When Lindsay Karn and her teammates stepped on the track at the Formula Sun Grand Prix in Indianapolis May 6, she knew all of her hard work finally had paid off.
After years of designing, building and testing, the MSU Solar Car Racing Team was finally ready to race.
“Hitting that first lap just meant the world to us,” Karn, an MSU alumna, said. “We were just as excited 100 laps later and we just kept going.”
Karn and the rest of her team traveled to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to pit MSU’s solar car against nine other teams’ cars in a track race that tests not only the car’s endurance but also its structural efficiency.
The Formula Sun Grand Prix, or FSGP, marked the inaugural competition for the MSU team, which tied with Western Michigan University for a sixth-place finish, amassing 207 total laps.
Despite the team’s small size — most teams had 10-15 members compared to MSU’s five — the team finished its first race after years of construction and alterations to the car, named Brasidius after a Spartan king.
“I’ve always rooted for the underdog, so knowing we were a small team but knowing we could do it was something that motivated me to stay,” business manager and MSU alumna Manila Ounsombath said.
The race is put on by the Innovators Educational Foundation, which also hosts the American Solar Challenge, or ASC, a cross-country style race across the U.S. The ASC was the only solar car race in the U.S. until 2000, when a track-style race was proposed as an additional way to challenge students’ engineering skills.
Before the racing begins, each team’s car must undergo a series of tests for functionality and safety, a process called scrutineering.
If the inspection teams find any factors that might compromise the car’s legality or safety during a race, the team is required to make adjustments in the pit before being allowed on the track.
The scrutineering process begins two days prior to the start of the race. An initial problem with the car’s bolts forced the MSU team to reconstruct the car completely, but with the other teams’ help, it soon was ready to compete.
Paul Hirtz, board of directors member and event co-coordinator for the ASC, said this was the first year that every entry got to race.
“None of us can remember a time that that’s happened before,” Hirtz said. “Some go home without racing, and we always feel really disappointed in that, but we have to ensure the integrity of the event by making sure everyone is playing fair and playing safe.”
MSU’s first foray into the FSGP in 2009 was deterred by an electrical problem that Karn said caused sporadic acceleration and braking. The team was unable to fix the problem before racing began and continued to modify the car before returning to compete for the first time this year.
Karn and Ounsombath, both 2011 graduates, were awarded spirit awards and scholarships for their motivation and encouragement to every team on the track, not just their own.
“Manila and I were very surprised,” she said. “We were very touched that we got the awards, and we weren’t expecting scholarships at all.”
Hirtz said he was impressed with the level of camaraderie that was displayed at the race, noting that MSU’s team had a few problems in the pit before getting started but students from other universities offered help in speeding up the scrutineering process.
“Watching that gracious professionalism is just wonderful,” he said. “They’re all there to compete in the race, but they’re there to respect each other and they want to see every team competing to the best of their ability. To watch that every year just baffles me.”
For the MSU team, which has faced declining membership and structural problems in years past, completing its first official race was worth all of the effort.
“It was great that MSU could complete even one lap, and to be neck and neck with Western (Michigan) was more than we could ever ask for,” Ounsombath said. “Some of us didn’t think we could even make it to the track let alone finish a single lap, and I’m really proud of what we’ve done.”
The race was a test of engineering skills to all the teams, and both Karn and Ounsombath said they were grateful to learn more about engineering from the other teams present.
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“I would challenge anyone to find someone who has gone on one of these projects and regretted it,” Hirtz said. “You will find just the opposite. Our whole goal is to provide more opportunities to get their hands dirty and to gain these experience so that when they enter the workforce they can help improve our economy to maintain the standard of living in this county and around the world.”
