Official results for the 2009 Formula SAE Australasia competition have been released. Below is a breakdown of the top ten teams across the various events.

The M09 has now been packed away ready to be shipped back to Auckland where it will be repaired and cleaned, ready for various exhibitions.

More shots from the event can be found in our gallery.

Yesterday marked the final day of the Formula SAE Australasia Competition 2009. It was a good competition for the team, with a third in Skidpad and a best ever finish of fifth in Autocross. This was topped off on Sunday with news that we placed third in the prestigious Design event. Below is how the day unfolded.

Autocross times were released just before the end of the day on Saturday. After a solid performance by both Paul and Ashley, we placed in fifth position, only a few tenths behind Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Furthermore, the top five were nearly two seconds ahead of sixth place. The other teams to beat us were University of Western Australia (UWA), Swinburne University of Technology, and Monash University.

Due to bringing the car back to accommodation for running repairs, the car had to go back early to be re-inspected. Once checked, the car was returned to the pits and prepared for Paul to start the first endurance. Both Ashley and Peter were suited up to jump in at the driver change. After a quick warm-up on the practice pad, we headed over to the endurance course (the same as autocross except in a counter clockwise direction). With the weather looking shaky, we had the wet weather tyres on standby. Prior to Paul being released, we got news that Monash suffered mechanical failure and Swinburne could not restart the car at the driver change. The cars still running on track were UWA and QUT. Paul was released behind UWA. After a solid out lap, Paul pushed the car and cut the gap to UWA significantly, with tremendous driving through the slaloms. On the fourth lap, Paul roped in UWA and got ahead, much to the delight of the crowd. However, only a lap and a half later, disaster struck when a rear left clevis broke before the hairpin, in the process damaging the A-arms. Once back to the pits, we realised that the alternator and oil pump had lost drive also.

Whilst the car was being repaired, the design results were released. The team was unable to get the coveted first in design, coming in at the third place behind UWA and Monash. After some quick calculations, we saw that Monash and UWA would be hard to beat with 560 points out of 600 and 520 for UWA. We were in third with 433, with Swinburne and University of Wollongong on 408 and 388 respectively. QUT and Edith Cowan University (ECU) were not too far behind either.

With only UWA and QUT finish out of the top five cars in the first session, we would have to complete the event to achieve a podium finish. With Monash too repairing their car, we both copped penalties for not being at the line on time. News channelled through that both UWA and Swinburne did not finish, meaning it was still an open competition. When we finally got to the start line, Ashley set-off too complete his stint without too many more penalties. He was going well for a few laps, but the car was not behaving well, and further couple of laps later hit the kill switch, ending our weekend. The cause of the problems will be diagnosed back in NZ later this week. Eventual winners Monash finally made it out and was the last car running, treating the crowd with a good performance.

The final results were Monash on a staggering 960 out of 1000 points, with UWA in second and Wollongong in third. Our final placing was seventh with an unchanged 433, one position better than last year. At the end of the day, we were all successful, and richer for the experience.

Look out late next week for a newsletter when we will recap the competition and introduce our management for the 2010 campaign. Also, we will be uploading images of the weekend’s action onto our galleries, and sending these out.

Thank you for all of your continued support throughout this campaign. It has been a great year, with greater things to come next year.

This morning the team prepares for the final event of the competition – endurance. Below is a recap yesterdays mixed results.

The highlights included a third place in skid-pad and fifth in autocross. Both were the best the results that the team has ever scored for each event. The day’s strong performance was reinforced by the announcement that the Auckland team had once again made it into the Design Finals.

However, what goes up must come down; and that was evident with disappointing static event results. Both the Cost and Business Presentation events where expected to be strong performances for the team. This was not the case with a 9th place in Presentation and an 11th in the Cost event.

Today still offers a number of points to collect. With 550 out of a possible 1000 points still up for grabs, a podium position is comfortably within the teams grasp. With the fast raw pace shown today in Autocorss, the endurance event will determine if this is the year that the team can finish with a top three overall place.

Friday marked the first day of actual competition for the University of Auckland FSAE team.

First up was the business presentation where Mike Male and Dasan Ker presented their proposal to a fictitious manufacturer in front of a panel of judges. This took 20 minutes (including question and answer time) and both are confident with what they presented.

The prestigious design event was next where senior team members presented their case for the M09's design to a panel of industry experts. Focus was given to particular aspects of the car such as data acquisition, composites and ergonomics. The seven team members who presented believe it went well, and we eagerly wait to see if we make the design finals, to be held on Saturday evening. 

The final static event was cost, lead by Gareth Williamson. The event focussed on assessing the brake system of the car and presenting a cost reduction. The judges provided positive feedback and in general were impressed with the quality of the car and reports presented.

As dynamic events are held over the remainder of the weekend, the marshalls ensured the M09 was safe to run. After completing the technical inspection (on thursday), tilt, noise and brake tests; the Auckland contingent are now ready to compete in the Autocross, Skidpad, Acceleration and Endurance events.

Please continue to follow our progress over the weekend, we'll be updating the webpage every evening and our twitter page. Our first sets of results will be available tomorrow.

RMIT

UWA

Edith Cowan at Design

Monash testing at Silhouette

After several testing sessions at Silhouette Kart track and several visits to Monash University, the team entered the competition today with a good vibe.

With a delayed start to proceedings, the team got in line for srutineering. After a mixed day of weather, the team passed the technical inspection aspect of scrutineering with only a minor modification to the brake over-travel switch required. The team will go in tomorrow for the noise test, tilt test, and brake test, followed by the static events.

Thanks again to Silhouette and Monash for the use of testing/workshop facilities, it's much appreciated.

Keep a look out tomorrow for the days events.

Testing at Silhouette

The team have now headed over the ditch to undergo final preparations for next weekends competition. Monash University have once again hosted the team within their workshop facilities whilst the M09 has come together for one final week of work.

Skid-pad testing was on the agenda today as drivers Mike Male and Gareth Williamson both continue to get up to speed with this event. With the day coming to an end, the Auckland contingent will be heading to a local go-kart track to continue their testing regime tomorrow.

We will continue to update you with the teams activities over the next week. Watch this space!

Last week has been an extremely busy week for the team. In the M09's final days in the country, testing, whether static or dynamic, has occured daily. Parallel to this, a set of spare parts have also been under production.

In the early hours of Monday, work on the M09 ceased. After a thorough clean, it was strapped onto the floor of the crate. With just over five cubic metres of space, the team packed a myriad of tools, spares, and raw materials that totalled 1100kg. Later that afternoon, the team farewelled the M09, as it headed to the airport. Having being flown over this morning, the team hopes to be able to retrieve the car on Thursday when the first group arrives. Friday will see the drivers and a senior team head over and set-up the car in preparation for competition. The remainder of the team heads over mid next week.

The crate loaded on the truck ready for transport to the airport.

The competition itself begins on Thursday the 10th, concluding on Sunday the 13th. The first hurdle for the team is to get through technical inspections, as well as passing brake, noise, and tilt tests. Friday will see the design team set out to prove the M09 on paper. The Business Presentation and Cost Event will aslo be run around this time. Dynamic events commence on the Saturday with acceleration, autocross, and skidpad. The competition reaches a climax on Sunday with the endurance event, which includes a fuel efficiency component. Our progress will be updated on our website, so keep an eye out.

1st Prize: The Formula Challenge Experience - Cushla Ker

2nd Prize: Route 66 Vouchers - James Ledingham

3rd Prize: Formula E Sessions - Simon Male

Thanks to  everyone who showed their support and bought a ticket. We really appreciate it!

Thanks also to Formula Challenge, Route 66, and Formula E for donating the prizes.

On the night of Tuesday, the 17th of November, the M09 was officially launched at the Faculty of Engineering. The event was very well attended with around 150 attendees, including the Dean of Engineering and University Vice Chancellor.

The night kicked off with doors opening to sponsors and families to come and mingle with the team. For some team members, it was the first time in nearly a month they had a opportunity to catch up with family. Formalities began with a wrap up of the years work by Team Leader Ollie Smith, accompanied with a short video (see below). This was followed by brief words from the Head of Mechanical Department Professor Gordon Mallinson, Dean of Engineering Professor Michael Davies, and finally from the University Vice Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon.

The night concluded with Business Manager Mike Male and associate Dasan Ker presenting a business proposal. This involves marketing the M09 to a manufacturing company, and is an integral part of the competition. With less than four weeks to go before competition, the presentation, as well as the question and answer session, were invaluable experience for the duo.

We would like to thank all sponsors, university staff, family and friends who came to see the result of our work this year. We still have a fortnight of very hard work ahead of us, with the car being shipped to Australia on December 1st.

The gallery contains some more photos of the event and the complete M09. We've also put up full technical specifications for the M09 now that has been launched officially.