On Saturday, October 21, Zips Racing Combustion, Zips Racing Electric and Zips Baja teamed up for their 10th annual Sponsor Day. These student design teams funnel their efforts into building cars each year to attend competitions around the world.
Sponsor Day, a long-standing tradition of over a decade, is an annual event organized by these teams. Traditionally taking place in the Lot 34 parking lot on The University of Akron's campus, the event welcomes friends, family and sponsors to celebrate the teams' hard work and achievements and showcases the impact of the sponsor's generously donated resources. The event also serves as an opportunity for the teams to reflect on their past season experiences and discuss exciting ideas for their next car projects. The day features the teams' cars navigating a cone course in the parking lot, along with food, drinks and conversations.
This year, five different cars were in operation: ZR22 and ZR13 from Zips Racing Combustion, ZB23 and ZB21 from Zips Baja, and ZRE23 from Zips Racing Electric. The teams were delighted to have more than 250 attendees this year.
"It was an awesome event with a huge turnout," remarked Raymond Hilbert, Zips Racing Combustion's 2022 Team Captain.
"This was the best Sponsor Day we have ever had. I love getting to show everyone how dedicated we are, and sponsors are genuinely excited about us and the future of engineering," shared Gabbie Kuebler, the current Chassis Lead of Zips Racing Combustion.
Zips Racing Combustion
Zips Racing Combustion, the most established among these organizations, has been building formula-style racecars since 1989. Featuring a custom tuned single-cylinder Yamaha WR450 dirt bike engine, they boast top ten finishes in each of their competitions from Europe this past summer. The team finished 3rd overall (22 total teams) in Hungary, 9th overall in Germany (27 total teams), and 10th overall in Austria (21 total teams). In May of this year, they also finished 12th overall at FSAE Michigan, a competition at Michigan International Speedway that featured 120 teams participating from both local and international locations.
Zips Racing Electric
Zips Racing Electric is a younger team, but has achieved success since their revival in 2018, with a highlighted 3rd overall finish at the Electric Vehicle FSAE Michigan competition in 2021 and a 5th overall finish at FSAE Lincoln (EV) in 2019. Their newest car, also known as Christine, includes a student-built battery pack with a custom battery management system. It has yet to appear in competition, but the team is planning to compete in Formula Hybrid+Electric event in New Hampshire and Formula Electric event in Michigan at the end of the season.
Zips Baja
Zips Baja is quite different from Zips Racing Combustion and Zips Racing Electric, as they produce a vehicle with off-roading capabilities. Even though they are limited to the engine provided for them (Kohler Command Pro CH440), Baja tunes other subsystems of their car like the suspension, chassis and powertrain. The main feature of their 2023 car, ZB23, was all-wheel drive, which was a first in their team history. The competition season proved Baja to be competitive, as they finished 16th (86 total teams) at SAE Oregon and 15th out of 79 total teams at SAE Ohio.
RELATED CONTENT:
- Follow the teams on Instagram: Zips Racing Combustion, Zips Racing Electric and Zips Baja.
- Learn more about our Student Design Teams.
Story by CEPS Marketing.
Media contact: Cristine Boyd, 330-972-6476 or cboyd@uakron.edu.