Cornell's Formula SAE team took first place in the fifth annual University of Toronto Shootout, Sept. 16, a regional race for student-built and -driven race cars.

The Cornell team, whose primary mission is to build and drive a car in the International Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition in the spring, won first place, based on the average of the three best time trials of four drivers, Dylan Cooke '07, David Porter '08, Mike Rooks '07 and Erik Shewan '08. Cooke also took the competition's individual medal for the fastest lap of any driver -- 52 seconds around an irregular oval a bit less than 1 kilometer -- beating out the nearest competitor by a mere .78 of a second.

However, Cooke said, "It was really Mike [Rooks] who clinched the championship," driving a 53.5-second lap on his final run to bring the overall team average down to a winning 52.9 seconds.

The Toronto experience was a test of mechanical ingenuity as well as driving skill, according to Cooke. The team drove the car that was built for last May's International Formula SAE competition and had been sitting in a garage ever since. It started up on only three cylinders and barely limped around the track the first time. The team replaced a fuel injector and got full power, but then had starter problems and ended up push starting the car all day. The old car will remain in service for driving practice, but work has started on building a new car from scratch for next spring's competition.

The team brought home a prize of $100 Canadian (about $90 U.S.), a $150 ($134) SAE gift certificate and a set of four Goodyear tires. From early testing and driving practice through the final competition in the spring, the team will go through six to eight sets of tires, Cooke said.

The Toronto event, hosted by the University of Toronto FSAE team and held at the Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, about 60 miles east of Toronto, drew 15 entries, most from eastern Canada.