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Five Sleds Complete Endurance Run
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MARCH 17, 2004--Fewer than half of the entries in the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge endurance run made it to Copper Harbor March 16, a testament to how much can go wrong in 100 miles.
Last year's three top finishers--the University of Idaho, Michigan Tech and Kettering University--all had breakdowns during the initial part of the contest, a 75-lap tour around the 1-kilometer winter driving track located at Michigan Tech's Keweenaw Research Center.
Six of the 14 competing teams survived the lap portion of the run to head north along a groomed snowmobile trail to Michigan's northernmost community. When the Universite de Technologie Superieure team from Montreal ran out of gas a few miles shy of the finish, the field was reduced to five: Clarkson University, the University of Maine, Minnesota State University at Mankato, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the University of Wisconsin at Platteville.
The UW Madison finish was all the sweeter for being a new experience. "This is the first year we've gone over five miles," said team member Steve Lukas. Plus, they accomplished the feat with a unique design. Team members believe the sled's hybrid gas-electric engine may be the only one of its kind.
Clarkson driver Jesse Moss called the ride "awesome," and not just for the view of Lake Superior from atop Brockway Mountain.
"The trails are really, really good," he said. "The sled ran absolutely perfect. And we still have half a tank of gas."
Moss had another reason to be happy. "This is a first for Clarkson, to finish the 100-miler," he said.
Michigan Tech's sled had to pull out of the endurance run early when a weld failed on the fuel tank. All entrants will have a chance to compete in the other Challenge events, however, which continue through this week.
The public is invited to view the acceleration and handling events on Saturday, March 20, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Keweenaw Research Center. Also on Saturday, the teams will be displaying their sleds on the Michigan Tech campus from 2 to 4 p.m.
Tickets are available for the awards banquet Saturday, which begins at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom. The cost is $25. For more information or to reserve a ticket, call Lori Witting at 487-3088 or 487-2263.
The Clean Snowmobile Challenge is the Society of Automotive Engineers' newest collegiate design competition. Teams of engineering students from participating schools take a stock snowmobile and then reengineer it to reduce emissions and noise while maintaining or improving performance.
For more information on the Challenge, visit http://www.mtu.edu/snowmobile |
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