RIT Captures First Place in South African Mini Baja

The only team from the United States, RIT takes first in performance and design categories


In its first-ever entry in the South African Mini Baja, Rochester Institute of Technology’s team— the only one from the United States in the contest—captured first place in its division. The highly competitive challenge, Oct. 26–27 outside of Pretoria, featured 25 dune buggy-like cars and a tight race for first place.

In specific competitions, RIT took first place overall in the performance category, including first place in braking, skid pull and maneuverability contests. RIT tied for first place in the obstacle course, earned second place in hill-climb competition and took third place in a four-hour endurance race after completing 84 course runs.

RIT also took first place overall in the static-competition category, including first place in mechanical design, safety, structural integrity, feasibility of mass production, operator comfort, appearance and design report.

More than a dozen schools competed in the event, which was hosted by the University of Pretoria. It was the RIT team’s fifth mini-Baja competition this year. Last April, RIT was the only university from the U.S. represented at the Mini Baja Brazil in Sao Paulo.

The sixth annual South African Mini Baja was sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Briggs & Stratton Corp. and Daimler Chrysler Commercial Vehicle Division.

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Note: For more information on RIT’s mini-Baja team, visit: www.rit.edu/~bajawww/ourc/. For more on the South African Mini Baja, visit: www.me.up.ac.za/mini_baja/.

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