Oregon State University Conquers Washougal at Baja SAE Oregon 2009!!

PORTLAND, OR., May 18, 2009

Oregon State University (OSU) was on the winning track at the recently completed Baja SAE Oregon competition.  Hosted by the SAE Oregon Section, the second of three in the Baja SAE series held May 7-10, the OSU Beaver Racing Orange Team (#002) took 1^st places in Rock Crawl, Endurance, Overall Dynamic Events and Overall Design capturing 1^st place overall and hoisting the 1^st place trophy.

A typical tough and rugged West Coast terrain greeted the 65 teams as they traveled from the Portland Metropolitan Expo Center where Friday’s registration and static events were located to Washougal Motocross Park in Washougal, Washington for Saturday and Sunday’s events.  Other countries represented at this event were Mexico, Canada, South Korea, India, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.  

Unusually heavy rains and an unusable motocross course at the Park forced organizers to literally create a course from the surrounding area the week before the competition.   On Saturday, teams were challenged by a Hill Climb, Rock Crawl, Acceleration and Maneuverability course.  As the day progressed and the weather brightened, patience by many competitors was met later in the day with the dryer conditions.  Rochester Institute of Technology (#019) was fastest in both Acceleration and Maneuverability, and OSU Beaver Racing Black (#005) won the Hill Climb event.

A very demanding endurance course that was created by the organizing committee included a small stream/mud crossing, elevation changes that challenged teams and also log drops.  When all was said and done after the four-hour endurance event, Oregon State University (#002) was leading the pack. 

SAE would like to thank the SAE Oregon Section and the organizing committee led by Chris Etzel.  Chris and his hard working crew did an outstanding job planning and organizing this latest Baja SAE competition. These competitions would not be possible if it wasn’t for the support from a large number of people, especially from our volunteers and sponsors. To all the students, thank you for your undying interest in the Baja SAE competitions. SAE International thanks everyone who helped make this event a great success. 

A sampling of the top 10 overall teams is below; for additional information on all the results please visit:  http://students.sae.org/competitions/bajasae/results/

1^st  Place - #002 – Oregon State University
2^nd Place - #009 – Michigan Tech University
3^rd Place - #005 – Oregon State University
4^th Place - #006 – South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
5^th Place - #047 – Western Washington University
6^th Place - #014 – University of Manitoba
7^th Place - #015 – Queen’s University
8^th Place - #022 – California State University – Chico
9^th Place - #001 – California State Polytechnic University – Pomona
10^th Place - #019 – Rochester Institute of Technology

The final Baja SAE event of the 2009 series takes place June 11-14 in Burlington, Wisconsin.  Come on out and join in the fun!