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FSAE West Finals - June 30 Hello friends, I am proud to announce that the Western Washington University Formula SAE team has placed 6th overall at this year's West competition! In addition, we were selected as one of 3 teams to enter the final round of Design judging and placed third in the Design Event with judges agreeing it was the best looking car of the competition. We entered the first dynamic day with an overall lead in the static events but a few slight issues kept the car from performing at it's full potential. Nevertheless, we scored 7th in Acceleration, 6th in Skidpad, and 10th in Autocross that day. Saturday was the big event, Endurance, which accounts for 40% of the score and the event where our car failed last year. Drivers Erik Kremsner and Adam Baxter were driving very well when on the last lap, 500 feet from the finish line, an official "Black Flagged" the driver because of concern about the damaged nosecone. The official held Baxter for around two minutes before letting him finally finish his lap, making this the first WWU team to finish every event of the competition in over a decade. We looked back at the goals we set at the beginning of the year; to build a car in a single year, to develop a new monocoque chassis, to finish every event of the competition, and to place in the top 10. These seemed a bit unreasonable to many of us back in August, but we figured we might as well aim high. Well, the team accomplished every one of those goals, and has set itself in a position to win the event outright next year! We are all very proud of the car we have built and our performance this week. The team would like to extend a special thanks to WWU FSAE alumni Edward West and James Waltman, both of whom provided invaluable advice and help during all 4 days of the competition. We would also like to thank some family members that made our trip not only possible but also very enjoyable, including Norbert Kremsner, Greg & Sheryl Donohue, and Tim & Robin Urness. Special thanks as well to our platinum sponsors Janicki Industries and the Pacific NW Region Porsche Club of America for their substantial contributions and support throughout the year. Most importantly, thanks to each and every one of you for your support; we would not be where we are without you. The team is back in Bellingham and most intend to return with a new car next year. A few members including Matt Nucci, Eric Urness, and myself will be graduating and moving on to the "real world" but we all feel that the lessons that Formula SAE has provided are priceless and we will continue to be involved as the team transitions to a new year. Thank you for your support and cheers to a very successful year! John Furtado 2008 Team Captain


	FSAE West Day 2 - June 26 Today was the second day of the 2008 Formula SAE West competition at California Speedway and the first day of scored events. We are proud to announce that we have passed all 4 technical inspection events and have secured very successful finishes in all three static events. The first event of the day for our team was the sales presentation, where a few members of the team present a business case for the production of our vehicle on a larger scale. Members Axel Schmidt and Morgan Ferry gave an excellent presentation highlighting the high performance, low cost, and ease of manufacture that Viking 43 offers, incorporating an exciting 1 minute promotional video make by WWU student Chris Koser. Meanwhile, the rest of the team was working diligently to get V43 through the rigorous tech inspection and finally succeeded just before noon. At 2 pm, the team rushed the car to the Design event, where designers Matt Nucci, James Wright, Matt Kelly, and Marshall Hagen presented the most notable aspects of our car to a group of experienced judges including Claude Rouelle. After design, the drivers brought the car to the noise and brake tests and passed on the first try for both events. At 4 pm, the team brought the car to the Cost Analysis, where we scored 38 out of 40 points on the presentation portion, and "well" overall. Finally, at 5:30, the nine Design Semifinalists were announced including Western Washington University. Semifinals went very well and rumors have been floating online that the team will be entering one of the 3 spots for Design Finals for the first time in well over a decade! We are all very proud of our performance at the competition thus far and excited to get the car out on track tomorrow. We will keep you updated as scores come in.

	2008 Dallesport Shootout - June 17 The WWU team has organized a shootout driving event with the University of Washington and Oregon State Formula SAE teams at the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport on the banks of the Columbia River. The teams have spent the first day setting up the cars and tesing in the 80 degree weather, and will run through every dynamic event as they would at the competition in the next two days. So far, it has provided a great way for the teams to see how they stack up and proof out their cars in the hot weather.

	Viking 43, now featuring sidepods? - June 11 Janicki Industries has extended it's donations to the team to include the production of direct tooling for composite sidepods on Viking 43. After some hasty design, the molds were machined from foam using Janicki's "putty pattern" technique, then sanded and prepped by the team. The durable carbon-fiber sidepods look great and weigh less than 2.5 lbs a piece!



	WWU Formula SAE makes the front page! - June 8 The team and Viking 43 were featured in a front page article in the Dalles Chronicle. A reporter from the Chrinicle came to watch the team while they tested the car at the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport in Dallesport and spoke with member Eric Urness, who grew up in the area. The article can be found online HERE.



	PACCAR Tour and Janicki Photoshoot - May 1 The team brought Viking 43 to the PACCAR Technical Center, where the team has been doing weekend tests, for a "Lunch & Learn" discussion of the vehicle with PTC employees. In the afternoon, the team brought the car to Janicki Industries in Sedro Wooley for a presentation and design discussion. Afterward, a few engineers helped the team take some photos of the car in the mill where the tooling for our monocoque composite chassis was machined.



	2008 Viking 43 video posted on YouTube - May 19 The exciting video previewed at our April 19 unveiling was finally finished and posted on YouTube. Director and WWU student Chris Koser did a fantastic job of capturing the last few days of production and one of the first drives of Viking 43 at Cart BC in Chilliwack. The video can be found on YouTube HERE or a higher-quality version hosted on our site under Media. Thank you to Chris and his team at Sourcelight Productions for your excellent work!