RMIT Racing finishes fifth at Formula SAE Detroit

Driver and Team Leader, Lee Mitchener from the RMIT Racing team takes on the track at the Michigan International Speedway.

Driver and Team Leader, Lee Mitchener from the RMIT Racing team takes on the track at the Michigan International Speedway.

SET’s RMIT Racing team from the School of Aerospace Mechanical and Manufacturing (SAMME) have finished in a hard fought fifth position outright at the 2008 Detroit Formula SAE event, a student design competition organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

Held at Michigan International Speedway in mid May, the 2007 defending champions of the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies (FISITA) World Cup continued an impressive run, with their sixth consecutive top five Formula SAE competition finish in the last two years.

In a highly competitive field of 104 entries, RMIT Racing recorded yet another win in the Fuel Economy event, and an overall third placing in the Endurance event; narrowly behind eventual competition winners, the University of Western Australia. Team leader and lead driver, Lee Mitchener said it was a great outcome for the team.

“I felt the field this year was the most competitive field in recent years of Formula SAE competition. I can’t wait to get back on the track again, in Melbourne at the end of the year,’’ Mr Mitchener said.

With the Detroit FSAE competition now completed the team is looking forward to rolling out a brand new car in the coming months; a car which will debut at the FISITA Formula SAE-Australasia Event, to be held in Melbourne in November.