WINNING FORMULA

Auburn University team hopes to carry forward the momentum of victory at the 2016 Formula SAE Lincoln competition into 2017.

WHEN THE FINAL SCORES CAME in at Formula West in Lincoln, Neb., last summer, feelings ran high on Auburn University's travel team. It was the team's first overall win in two decades of racing in what is arguably SAE International's most challenging student contest. Auburn had come close before, finishing second, third, fourth and fifth-all part of a comfortable number of top-tens. But this was a ringing validation for the team's many long nights and lost weekends.

Indeed, while Auburn participates in a number of student competitions, each with its own challenges and obstacles, it would be hard to think that there's a tougher nut to crack than Formula SAE. The international competition draws colleges and universities from around the world: Europe to Africa and the Pacific rim to the Indian subcontinent, as well as all of the Americas - north, south, central, and the Caribbean.