Underdog victory: Wollongong win Australia’s best in international motorsport championship

Against the odds, the University of Wollongong Motorsport team has returned from the Formula SAE-A 2022 competition in Victoria as the best in Australia. READ MORE ABOUT THE UNDERDOG STORY.

THE University of Wollongong Motorsport has finished best overall in Australia in the Formula SAE-A 2022 competition.

The team of 19 crew members travelled to Victoria for the competition which took place on the December 10-11 at Winton Motor Raceway.

The competition is an annual event hosted by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), pitting university students against each other to design and build their own open-wheel, formula-style race cars, to then be tested based on a number of engineering parameters.

Soaking in victory. The UOW Motorsport team with their vehicle and trophies. Photo: Contributed

The majority of teams competing in the championship were universities from states and territories around Australia, with some also competing from universities in New Zealand, China, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

UOW Motorsport finished in 2nd place overall behind the University of Auckland, meaning they finished 1st in Australia, an achievement which Business Director Meg Sloan sees as a massive achievement for the team.

“We didn’t really go in with high expectations,” Sloan said.

“We’re a small team compared to some of the bigger universities … some had up to 80 people on their teams.

“So to get out what we did, especially with all the last minute scrambling, it was so much better than we thought it would be.”

An impressive trophy haul for the UOW Motorsport team. Photo: Contributed

The event in Victoria is one of the eight competitions for this style of car that take place worldwide each year, with other events taking place in Europe, the United States, Brazil and Japan.

Brandon Shaw is the Technical Director of the Wollongong team, and is considered by many team members to be the glue of the operation.

Shaw said that there were a lot of setbacks prior to the event, and for a while it looked like the team might not be able to enter a vehicle at all.

“We had our car running two weeks before the event … we booked heaps of track days for practice to make sure it was right,” Shaw said.

“Then when we got there [Victoria] we just had issue after issue with the car, we were frantically trying to fix everything.

All smiles for UOW Technical Director Brandon Shaw. Photo: Contributed

“It was a hectic Friday, and it sent us into Saturday a bit down on our spirits,” Meg Sloan said.

These setbacks meant that the team missed the first dynamic event of the competition, being the Acceleration event.

However, Shaw said that they got the issues resolved “in the knick of time,” and the team was able to field a vehicle for the remaining events.

Cameron McDougall was a standout performer for UOW Motorsport as the driver in the Skid Pad event, an event which tests driver handling and acceleration.

McDougall, a first-year engineering student at the University of Wollongong and a rookie at the championships, managed to record the fastest time in the Skid Pad event, despite taking a time penalty for hitting one of the cones.

“It was thrilling,” McDougall said.

“Initially I thought I’d be nervous but I didn’t have a chance, the car had just come from scrutineering so I had no time to think about it.

“It was just get in the car and go.”

Cameron McDougall on the shoulders of teammates after his success in the Skid Pad event. Photo: Contributed

McDougall’s performance in the Skid Pad was a great morale boost for the team and set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

“It showed that we actually have a competitive car,” Shaw said, “which is ultimately what we set out to achieve.”

The team had a few more problems on day two, with voltage system issues leaving the team’s car rolling to a stop in the AutoCross event.

“I knew the exact issue,” Shaw said.

“And worst was I knew there was nothing I could do.

“Once you have that issue, you’re out, so we had to be wheeled off the track.”

The UOW Motorsport vehicle in the thick of the action. Photo: Contributed

After identifying a loose wiring issue in the car, the team was able to fix up the car and submit it for the Efficiency event, where they finished in 3rd place.

The final event of the competition was the Endurance event, a 22km race which had the most points on the line for teams.

After 9 successful laps with their first driver the team made a change, and it was Brandon Shaw who had his chance to bring it home for his team.

“I just kept setting faster and faster laps, until eventually I set the fastest,” Shaw said.

“I overtook a few cars, including some of the winners from 2019 and 2020, which felt absolutely amazing.

“I didn’t know how well I had done until I came in and the team was screaming at me.”

Technical Director Brandon Shaw in the hot seat. Photo: Contributed

The team finished 1st in the event, which left them with a shot at the podium despite missing the Acceleration event.

McDougall recounts the excitement of the team when they found out that they hadn’t just made it on to the podium, but had come in 2nd place.

“It was so surprising, no one had any idea it was happening,” McDougall said.

“We thought we’d be a shot, but we didn’t know we’d do that well.

“It’s so rewarding for the team. There’s been countless late nights, especially for the electrical team, as we’ve had so many problems in the lead up.”

Shaw recalls how he had given up hope when he didn’t hear the team’s name in 3rd place.

“When 3rd got announced and it wasn’t us, I sort of thought, “we tried”,” Shaw said.

“When they announced us in 2nd though, we lost it.

“It was such a surprise.”

Meg Sloan credits much of the success down to the brilliance of their Technical Director Brandon Shaw.

“He is just insanely intelligent and we wouldn’t have had a team without him,” Sloan said.

“He held us all together all weekend.”

In response to this, Shaw said that there are a lot of pieces in the puzzle at UOW Motorsport.

All hands on deck. The UOW Motorsport crew hard at work. Photo: Contributed

“For the past three and a half to four years, there’s been a core group of people that have spent a lot of time and a lot of late nights in the workshops.

“Now we have a competitive car that we can keep iterating, which is ultimately what we set out to do two years ago.

“I’m just happy to share my knowledge and passion to the rest of the team for something that I love.”

UOW Motorsport’s performance in the Skid Pad, AutoCross and Endurance events were streamed online and have amassed over 4,000 views each.

The team is now back home in the UOW garage and are already eyeing up improving the vehicle for the championships next year.