BYU-Idaho’s Mini Baja racer is back and preparing for competition after an unexpected problem interrupted last year’s competition. 

The school’s Mini Baja racer looks like a go-cart with a roll cage and a school logo, and sports a Briggs & Stratton 10hp engine.  The engine comes standard to every college that competes in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Mini Baja competition.   Virtually everything else “we do…from scratch,” said James Cheney, this year’s project captain.   Cheney is a senior studying mechanical engineering.

“We didn’t get to do the main endurance race [last year], because it was on Sunday,” Cheney said.  This unexpected schedule change cost the BYU-I team points last year.  Even though the team could not attend that event, they still finished 27^th in the maneuvering race, 5^th in the rock crawl and 48^th overall—out of more than 100 schools from around the world that attended the competition.

The crux of the whole competition, Cheney said, is “whether or not your car falls apart, and how fast you can fix it.”

This year’s car-breaking events for the upcoming May 19-22^nd competition in Washington State include a “mud bog,” “durability,” “maneuverability” and a “rock crawl” event according to the 2010 SAE Mini Baja rulebook.  When the car breaks in any of these events, it must be taken to the pits, and sometimes must be re-inspected by officials prior to reentering the race, Cheney said. 

Last year, the BYU-I racer suffered a roll over during the rock crawl as well as a broken axle after landing a jump in the maneuvering race, which caused power to reach only one wheel during the rest of the race.  Cheney, who was driving, said he finished the race despite having the difficulty of one-sided acceleration.

Only one third of the cars were still in the competition by the end, Cheney said.

Students like Cheney design, build, and operate the Baja vehicle.  However, the Mini Baja team also has the potential to involve students who do not have these interests.

 “The whole idea behind it is we create a car and we go to fake companies [to sell it].  They have these judges there and they pretend to be investors,” Cheney said. 

According to the rulebook, 300 of the 1000 total points of the competition are given for such non-racing events as design, a cost report and the presentation of the car to executives of a hypothetical company.

Cheney said that someone majoring in business could be a help to the team.  Other students, even those that are not mechanical engineering majors, may also help with working on the car, Cheney said.  The group usually meets on Saturdays from 9a.m.-12p.m. in the Mark Austin Building.

A few Saturdays ago, the crew worked again on their buggy with the help of new students who have joined the team this semester.

 “I really like buggies…so I thought I’d check it out,” said Jesse Larson, a senior studying business.

Pat McPherson, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, summed up his reason for joining the project:  “[It’s] applied science,” McPherson said.