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.
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