For the second year in a row, Cornell's Formula SAE team has won the University of Toronto Shootout, a race for student-built and -driven race cars.

The competition tests both driving skill and a car's acceleration and maneuverability as a team of four drivers negotiates an irregular course of about one kilometer at the Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, about 60 miles east of Toronto, at speeds averaging around 45 mph. The regional competition drew 15 teams from the United States and Canada. Second place went to a team from the University of Michigan.

Cornell drivers David Porter '08, Mike Rooks '07 and Erik Shewan '08 drove the course in 54.17, 54.47 and 56.2 seconds respectively to come out with the best average time and win the race, which is determined by the three best times of four drivers. Jason Smart '09 was the fourth driver, making good time but losing points for hitting a traffic cone. The course is an oval track on which cones are used to create a sort of slalom on the straightaways. Porter also won best single time, beating the closest competitor by only three one-thousandths of a second.

The Cornell students triumphed in a car that was not in top form. The car was the same one the team drove in the International Formula SAE competition last May, and it was "acting up," Porter reported. The team improved performance by replacing the electronic control module but still had to run the car without its supercharger, which greatly reduced acceleration.

The Cornell FSAE team consists of about 45 graduate and undergraduate students, 34 of whom traveled to the Toronto Shootout. The team is currently in the design and testing phase for a new car to enter in the spring FSAE competition. Al George, the J.F. Carr Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Brad Anton, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, are faculty advisers.

The team returned from Canada with a prize of $150 and four Goodyear tires, which will be used during the development and testing of the new car.