KU students put the pedal to the metal
Lawrence - For the racing team at KU's Jayhawk Motorsports, it's all systems go as they head to one of the biggest competitions of the year.
"All of our students pour their hearts and souls into this project," said junior Phillip Twist. "Tomorrow is where we see what we have."
The team left campus Tuesday heading to Detroit for the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers National Competition in Detroit. The team of 15 seniors and 20 volunteers spent the first half of the school year designing the vehicle. The second semester was dedicated to manufacturing.
"Every year we build a completely new vehicle," said Twist. "There is actually only a few limited components that we purchase that aren't made here in the shop."
KU's program is one of the best in the country and maintaining that reputation while dealing with a full class load shows how dedicated the students are. But they admit being behind the wheel beats sitting in a desk.
"Sometimes yo hear people complain about the people that are involved with this that we’re not working hard enough in our calss," said Hans Walther. "A lot of experience that we get out of this is stuff that we can really use in our futures that you can't learn in the classroom."
The competition begins Wednesday with a technical inspection and a design competition. On Saturday, the team will compete in several races. This week's competition is the second of the month for the team. They finished 9th in the Formula Hybrid International Competition in New Hampshire last week.