History of Formula Racing at McGill

The McGill Racing Team (MRT) has a rich history in the Formula SAE series. Since 1994 McGill Engineering Students have built 9 competitive race cars. Here is a short overview of the MRT history.

The First Generation 1994- 1999

The first car, known as Boomerang was built in 1994. Today, it is exposed at an indoor karting track in Montreal as a silent witness to McGill’s motorsport history. To follow the Boomerang was the MRT2 affectionately referred to as Big Bird for its flashy yellow paint. Big Bird raced twice in

Formula SAE, ranking 1st in Quebec and second in Canada in its 1998 season. It was used the following year for technical purposes and driver training for MRT recruits.

The Big Bertha Generation 1999 - 2001

Big Bertha, was built over almost two years, from September 1999 to May 2001. As many past team members had graduated and the new team roster was composed of inexperienced students, both design and construction phases proved long and

difficult. In the end, MRT improved its best result with a 19th overall standing in the 2001 Formula SAE competition. Many lessons were learnt from the construction of this rather bulky car.

The Third Generation 2001-2005

A new crew of outstanding engineering student took over the racing team to kick off a great season for MRT. The team led by David Lemire and Jonathan Laliberte and their classmates were aiming for

something better than the team has ever achieved. In order to achieve these results, aggressive technical objectives were set; 20% reduction of vehicle weight, improve engine torque and horsepower, reduce turning radius and overall car dimensions, elimination of clutch problems and improved reliability of the shifting mechanism. After a year of hard work, the McGill Racing Team achieved a great standing with a 13th overall position in the 2002 Detroit competition, 3rd in

Canada, and 1st in Quebec. However, the year 2001 marked the beginning of

an important rule change made by the SAE; no car could be used more than one year. This rule change ended the short lived success of the MRT4. In 2002, the team started working on an improved version of the MRT4. The new powerful MRT5 equipped with a turbocharger finished 5th

in the world at the Formula SAE 2002 autocross event. This golden generation continued its success with the MRT6 in 2003. Featuring a smart under-tray design with Venturi effect to create down force, more weight reduction, and an award winning Engine Management System, the

MRT6 finished 1st in Canada and 15th in the world among 140 teams. After the great success with the MRT6, the team

decided to concentrate on specific subsystems of the race car to come up with something new. For example, the fully carbon fiber wheel project was started. The MRT7 body work was the most attractive up to that point, and the race car had similar performance to that of the MRT6. Unfortunately, a failure in the powertrain

prevented the car from finishing the race at

Detroit 2005.

The Transition Phase and the MRT8

Most of the core team graduated with the MRT7, and the team was taken over by less experienced, mainly new members.

Nevertheless, the team is proud to have

designed an entirely new car, built it in time, and raced at Detroit 2006. The new MRT8 featured an entirely new chassis concept, and the suspension assembly included new composite members for weight reduction.

Currently the team is working on MRT9.