Hornet Racing competes in one competition per year in June against other universities from various parts of the world.

For the 2014 competition, there were a total of 80 schools in which Sacramento State took 19th place overall this year in Lincoln, Nebraska.

For the competition next year, the Hornet Racing team will be reusing the same car design. However, for the actual car itself, the team will be using it as a testing platform. The team is currently in the design phase of the new car; they hope to have a rolling chassis by Christmas break and a running car by the end of January.

Senior mechanical engineering major Anthony Melanson, who is in charge of marketing for Hornet Racing, said they are in the preparation stages as the team is getting ready for next year’s summer race.

“How competition generally works is first we go through technical inspection with our car, making sure it passes all the rules and requirements that are given to us. Then, it goes through a design presentation and business presentation, there’s a series of trials for the car testing such as braking and acceleration,” Melanson said. “Finally, there will be a 22 kilometer endurance between two drivers.”

Hornet Racing does not require any member to have a certain major. The only prerequisites you must possess is that you must be highly passionate about building cars. There are about 20-30 active voluntary members of the Hornet Racing team.

Jeff Jackson, chassis director for Hornet Racing, believes having hands-on experience with building race cars is an essential tool that any student can benefit from.

“Hornet Racing is the best outlet that any engineering student can have to put the skills he acquires in class to work, not only that but it’s a tremendous amount of fun as well,” Jackson said. “We get to build race cars while going to college, and that’s not something that a lot of people get to say.”

Timing is essential for the crew. This year, they are trying to make sure the car is designed well in advance so they can have a rolling chassis finished with plenty of time to test the car’s performance. There are really high expectations for moving forward with future competitions.

David Minnick, technical director for composites and controls for Hornet Racing, said he is striving for an even better finish from 19th place overall this year to a top 10 finish overall in next year’s competition.

“Our design goals and our team goals is that we’re hoping to break into the top 10; to do that we looked at our scores from this last time and the overall scores from the general competition and we’ll need to make a 10 percent improvement all across the board,” Minnick said.

As far as the budget for Hornet Racing is concerned, it costs a total of $50,000 to compete and build the car each year. It takes approximately one full year to build the car. After competition, the team figures out the successes and failures of their design and completed model.

The design phase takes a few months to complete, followed by a few more months to manufacture the car. What separates Hornet Racing from other schools, is that the club designs and manufactures 90-95 percent of their own car.

Jackson said Hornet Racing is always looking for more sponsorships and donations as it helps cover the competition and car costs each year.

“A lot of our money does come from sponsors and personal donations,” Jackson said. “Of course we’re always looking for more. It’s a struggle every year to get the money that we need to make it to competition, not only to build the car, prepare the car, but also to handle the logistics of getting the entire team and a race car to Lincoln, Nebraska.”