Members of the KSU Motorsports team held the sixth annual Formula South Invitational race Saturday, promoting friendly competition between universities.
The race was held in the 28a and 28b parking lots of the Marietta campus from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The team represented KSU in the race.
The free event was open to all students and featured a variety of vendors, including displays and a small plane for spectators to enjoy.
Boxed lunches and beverages were provided for attendees by Henssler Financial and prepared by Delta TechOps. Lunches were $5, and all the proceeds benefited the Robert Glenn Allen foundation scholarship.
“This is an informal competition to race against our friends from other schools and learn from each other,” said Robbie Lollar, president of KSU Motorsports and a senior mechanical engineering major. “We also use the event to give the teams some publicity and to raise money for the Glenn Allen Foundation.”
The race’s competitors do not advance to higher level competitions such as regionals or nationals. While winners may not go on to bigger events, KSU’s team placed third at the Formula South Invitational.
“They just kind of show off and it gives them data for their new car,” said Paige Brown, a senior mechanical engineering and technology major and driver for Team Atlanta Dragway.
KSU Motorsports is an international engineering competition team that encourages talented students to design and build a formula-style race car.
The team was founded in 1992 by John Leverett, who is now the chief design engineer at Panoz Racing. Formula SAE is sanctioned by the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the program is open to students of all majors.
As opposed to racing in NASCAR and other forms, Lollar said formula racing is “different than all other forms of racing because the designs used in the racecar are all unique to the respective teams.”
Sarah Carter, KSU Motorsport’s treasurer and senior business major, said Yamaha officials attended the invitational and were looking to recruit two interns.
“All the parts are designed and manufactured in-house at the school,” Lollar said.
Each season, the team seeks out corporate sponsors to receive funding and materials, and the team offers many opportunities for members to gain important, hands-on experience.
“Team members that put a lot of effort into the team end up learning so much about design, manufacturing and testing that employers are amazed at what they accomplished in college,” Lollar said.
