Wikipedia

Formula Sun Grand Prix

The Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) is an annual solar-car race that takes place on closed-loop race tracks. In the race, teams from colleges and universities throughout North America design, build, test, and race solar-powered vehicles.

Formula Sun Grand Prix
Formula Sun Grand Prix
VenueRacetracks
LocationVaries
Corporate sponsorInnovators Educational Foundation
First race2000; 24 years ago (2000)
Last race2024; 0 years ago (2024)
DistanceVaries
LapsMost laps wins
Duration3 days
Most wins (team)University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project

Every two years the race serves as a qualifier for the American Solar Challenge road race.[1]

Format and organization

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Rules

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  • The race consists of three days of freely driving laps around the race track.
  • The team with the most total laps driven wins.
  • The total area of all solar cells and related reflectors, etc., must not exceed 4 square meters (43 sq ft).[2]
  • The solar array may be reoriented toward the sun for charging batteries for specified time periods before and after race hours.
  • Strict specifications and engineering scrutiny process is provided for vehicle configuration, safety requirements, and other standards.
  • Previous races have divided teams into "open" and "stock" classes based on levels of solar cell and battery technologies.

History

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Formula Sun Grand Prix is governed by the Innovators Educational Foundation,[3] and was started in summer 2000 at Heartland Park race track in Topeka, Kansas, in conjunction with a solar-bike race.

It has served as a qualifying race for the biennial American Solar Challenge road race.

The race was held there every year through 2005 until the 2007 American Solar Challenge was canceled due to funding issues. It resumed in 2009 and has been held every year since then at a few different venues.

2000

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The inaugural race was held at Heartland Park Topeka race track in Topeka, Kansas. It was won by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's Solar Phantom V.[4] The stock class was won by the University of Missouri-Rolla's Solar Miner II.

2001

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FSGP 2001 served as a qualifier for the 2001 American Solar Challenge and was the only year when multiple events were held.

2002

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FSGP 2002 was held at Heartland Park Topeka and was won by the University of Missouri-Rolla's Solar Miner III,[7] while the stock class was won by Kansas State University.

2003

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FSGP 2003 was held at Heartland Park Topeka and served as a qualifier for the 2003 American Solar Challenge. It was won by the University of Minnesota's Borealis II,[8] while Kansas State finished just one lap behind in second place. The stock class was won by North Dakota State University.

2004

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FSGP 2004 was held at Heartland Park Topeka and the University of Missouri-Rolla's Solar Miner IV[7] took first place overall.

2005

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FSGP 2005 was held at Heartland Park Topeka and served as a qualifier for the 2005 North American Solar Challenge. It was won by Minnesota's Borealis III.[9]

2009

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After a three-year hiatus due to a lack of funding, FSGP 2009 was held at MotorSport Ranch in Cresson, Texas. The University of Minnesota's Centaurus took first place overall.[10]

2010

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FSGP 2010 was again held at the MotorSport Ranch Cresson and served as a qualifier for the 2010 American Solar Challenge. It was won by the University of Michigan.[11]

2011

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FSGP 2011 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana, as part of the Indianapolis 500's 100th-anniversary celebrations. Minnesota's Centaurus II took first place overall.[12]

2012

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FSGP 2012 was held at the Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, New York, and served as a qualifier for the 2012 American Solar Challenge. It was won by Michigan.[13]

2013

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FSGP 2013 was held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Oregon State University's Phoenix took first place overall, while Illinois State University's Mercury IV finished one lap behind in second place, and Iowa State University's Hyperion finished one lap behind them in third place.[14]

2014

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FSGP 2014 was again held at Circuit of the Americas and served as a qualifier for the 2014 American Solar Challenge. It was won by Michigan. The race was marred by an electrical fire in a garage causing many team's cars and equipment to be damaged by water from the complex's sprinkler system.[15]

2015

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FSGP 2015 was held again at Circuit of the Americas on July 29–31, 2015. It was won by Iowa State University with 223 total laps and a fast lap of 4:30.444, both track records for solar cars.[16] Hot weather forced most of the teams to have to pull into the pits at times to cool their batteries. The University of Calgary became the first Cruiser team to compete in FSGP.

* Teams with a Cruiser Class vehicle tied below the next conventional team.

2016

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FSGP 2016 took place at Pitt Race in Wampum, Pennsylvania on July 26–28, 2016. It served as a qualifier for the 2016 American Solar Challenge.[17] It was won by Michigan.

2017

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The University of California Berkeley solar car team, CalSol, wins first place at the 2017 Formula Sun Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas during the competition July 6-8, 2017. The team poses with their car, Zephyr.

FSGP 2017 was held again at Circuit of the Americas on July 6–8, 2017. It was won by the CalSol team of UC Berkeley with 228 total laps.[18]


2018

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FSGP 2018 was held at Motorsports Park Hastings in Hastings, Nebraska on July 10–12, 2018. This year featured the first ever Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class at FSGP, which was won by University of Minnesota with triple the score of the runner-up, setting a record as the first team to win FSGP 5 times. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by Polytechnique Montreal with 403 laps.[19]

2019

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FSGP 2019 was held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on July 4–6, 2019. The Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class was won by University of Calgary with a Score of 24.188. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by Polytechnique Montreal with 230 laps.[20]

2020

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FSGP 2020 was planned to return to Heartland Park Topeka on July 10-16, 2020,[21] but was postponed to September[22] and ultimately cancelled[23] due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021

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FSGP 2021 was held at Heartland Park Topeka on July 30-August 1, 2021. The Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class was won by University of Minnesota with a Score of 26.873. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by the University of Kentucky with 250 laps.[24]

2022

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FSGP 2022 was held at Heartland Park Topeka on July 5-7, 2022.[25] The Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class was won by Polytechnique Montréal with a Score of 135.4. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by Principia College with 299 laps.[26]

2023

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Electrek FSGP 2023 was held at Heartland Motorsports Park. Topeka, KS June 27 - July 2. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by the University of Florida - 707.5 miles (283 laps). The Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class was won by Polytechnique Montréal with a 137.3 points / 1,315 person miles (263 laps).

2024

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Electrek FSGP 2024. Left to Right: #828 Appalachian State University; #5 University of Florida; #6 University of California, Berkeley

Electrek FSGP 2024 was held at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, KY from July 16-18th. The 2024 event served as the qualifier for the Electrek American Solar Challenge 2024 which immediately followed FSGP. Difficult weather resulted in many teams not meeting the qualification requirements for ASC with some being granted provisional qualification. The Single Occupant Class was won by team Éclipse from École de technologie supérieure with 215 lap completed for a total of 677.25 miles. The Multi-Occupant Class was also won by a team from Montreal with Project Esteban from Polytechnique Montréal earning the top score of 88.57. [27]

See also

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Other solar vehicle challenges

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References

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  1. ^ "Formula Sun Grand Prix". ASC & FSGP Collegiate Solar Car Competition. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  2. ^ "American Solar Challenge 2024 Regulations" (PDF). p. 25. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  3. ^ "Innovators Educational Foundation". ASC & FSGP. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  4. ^ Einhorn, Michelle. "Formula Sun Grand Prix 2000". Solar Phantom Online. Archived from the original on March 18, 2002.
  5. ^ "Formula Sun Grand Prix 2001". Solar Phantom Online. Archived from the original on January 20, 2003.
  6. ^ Roland, Cheryl (July 14, 2001). "Solar teams complete WMU qualifying event". WMU News. Archived from the original on August 14, 2002.
  7. ^ a b "History of the Missouri S&T Solar Car Team". Missouri S&T Solar Car Team. May 29, 2010. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010.
  8. ^ "Formula Sun Race Results: Borealis II took 1st Place!". University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project. May 2003. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014.
  9. ^ "Formula Sun Grand Prix 2005". UMN Solar Vehicle Project. February 22, 2015. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023 – via YouTube. Borealis III in action at FSGP 2005
  10. ^ "SUNY New Paltz SolarCar Racing Team". SUNY New Paltz. Archived from the original on June 6, 2010. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  11. ^ "ASC/FSGP 2010". ASC & FSGP. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  12. ^ "FSGP 2011". ASC & FSGP. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  13. ^ "ASC/FSGP 2012". ASC & FSGP. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  14. ^ "FSGP 2013". ASC & FSGP. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  15. ^ "ASC/FSGP 2014". ASC & FSGP. Archived from the original on July 4, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  16. ^ "FSGP 2015". ASC & FSGP. Archived from the original on December 20, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  17. ^ "ASC/FSGP 2016". ASC & FSGP. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  18. ^ "FSGP 2017". ASC & FSGP. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  19. ^ "Formula Sun Grand Prix 2018". ASC & FSGP. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "2019 Formula Sun Grand Prix". American Solar Challenge. November 20, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  21. ^ "FSGP 2020 is coming to Heartland Motorsports Park!". ASC & FSGP. December 11, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  22. ^ "ASC 2020 postponed". American Solar Challenge. April 25, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  23. ^ "2020/2021 American Solar Challenge Regulations". American Solar Challenge. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  24. ^ "Formula Sun Grand Prix 2021". American Solar Challenge. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  25. ^ "2022 American Solar Challenge – ASC & FSGP". Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  26. ^ "Formula Sun Grand Prix". Results. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  27. ^ Waichulis, Arin (July 19, 2024). "Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2024 wrap-up and final results". Electrek. Retrieved November 15, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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