This is Part 13 of a series written by guest writer Ricky Nietubicz on his experience on the Formula SAE team at the University of Delaware. FSAE is a competition where students design, build, and compete with small formula-style racing cars. Ricky was President of his FSAE club, and his team went to the Nationals in Detroit during the 2006-2007 season.

This is it. The big day(s) for the car, and for the team. A year, or two, or even more of preparation comes down to a few days and seemingly fewer events. Up to this point I have focused on preparation, but this is the big deal. You’ll need to get the team, the car, and essentially your entire shop packed up, to the competition, compete, and then make it home. This is not a cheap endeavor, nor is it one that should be taken lightly as any other roadtrip.

We used a 16’ box truck and a minivan when we finally went to Detroit. Two rode in the box truck, four in the minivan. Keeping the number of vehicles small is key to minimizing both rental fees and gas costs. Minimizing the number of people coming also helps keep all the costs down, from the number of hotel rooms needed, to the number of mouths to feed. However, if people feel excluded from competition, they aren’t very likely to show up around the shop when you need the hands. Some filter is needed, it just can’t be too fine of a filter.

Our filter was our lawnmower tuneup fundraiser. Anyone going to competition must meet two basic qualifications: 1. they must put in their time at the shop and 2. they must put in a minimum number of hours over the course of the lawnmower tuneup weekend, typically 20. The “time in the shop” was more “we have to know who you are” and the 20 hours became approximate, as long as the person wasn’t trying to weasel out, it was fine. Then again, we didn’t exactly have a problem of having too many people on the team, so requirements such as these should be modified as appropriate for the team.

Make your reservations well in advance- the good hotels fill up pretty fast. We found a good place at a reasonable rate, it was a Fairfield Inn by Marriott. You’ll also want to spend some time scouting out an auto parts store or two in the area, as well as a hardware store, and a few other items. The Detroit competition last year was at the Ford’s Michigan Proving Grounds, which are a good drive from, well, about anything. We located a K-Mart for general stuff, a pretty good auto parts store, and a Tractor Supply to function as a general hardware store. Also found a good Radio Shack to get some electric parts we needed.

When the events are going on, a bunch of people on the team will be just standing around. They can still be put to good use, however. Send them around to photograph as many cars as possible, with each photo capturing something unique about that car, if at all possible. Then, when you get home, catalog these photos, and what these teams did, with how they placed overall. A nice, big Excel sheet should do the trick nicely.

Spying? Call it what you will. The point is that it is silly NOT to gather as much information as you can. Ask the other teams about what they did and why. 9/10 will tell you. This can help you along in your design a great deal, rather than having to figure everything out on your own. It isn’t Formula 1. It isn’t American LeMans Series. It isn’t even NASCAR. It’s FSAE- there aren’t too many “trade secrets” that are really worth protecting, so share the knowledge.

Along these lines, I would highly recommend sending a group to the competition even if you don’t have a car. Say you have a car every other year- in the off years, it would benefit the team greatly to have members go out to the competition in order to get the lay of the land, meet people on the other teams, and learn as much about how things work as possible, as well as see where teams get hung up on tech. See what parts fail in the endurance run. See what the autocross course looks like.

Most of all, when at competition, the team must function as a team. No question about it, this is the time that everybody must pull together. Most of all, and this goes out to officers and team members, drivers, mechanics, designers, and everyone else alike- shut up and listen. Swallow your pride, check your ego at the gate, and listen to what everyone has to say. Before you go tearing into things, stop and think. Take a step back and look at the problem you’re trying to solve, come up with the best course of action, and then do it. When somebody asks you to do something, do it. If you have a suggestion, wait and interject politely- a shouting match never ends well when you have a time limit and things to do. Nobody has all the answers- everyone must accept that.

You’ll bust some knuckles, you’ll have to work against the clock, you’ll be tired. It’s more than likely to rain, so you’ll be wet. It’s also more than likely to be cold, so, well, you’ll be cold. Your car will suffer a bit, it’ll be scratched, bruised, dirty and a bit worn. But that’s OK. It’s a race car, and that’s how race cars are supposed to look, and you’re a racing team, and that’s how racing teams are supposed to look.

Congratulations, now you’ve competed. Maybe you were successful in every event. Maybe you had a tough time through tech, maybe your diff exploded in the autocross, locked, had a lotta play, but you wrapped it in duct tape and finished the enduro. The most important aspect of the competition, aside from having fun, is to learn something. That’s what FSAE is all about, and it is what separates the great teams from the mediocre teams. You will come across new ideas, new ways of solving the same old problems, new problems to address. Think through them, and take notes, photos, whatever it takes- at the competition you’ll have more information thrown at you than you likely ever have in such a short period of time. Nobody could hope to absorb everything the first time around, so make sure you store what you can’t absorb for later.