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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Global Formula Racing team at Oregon State University recently won for the third consecutive year at Michigan International Speedway, considered the national championship of Formula SAE racing - the only time this has ever happened.

OSU's racing team, which is a collaboration of OSU and Duale Hochschule Baden-Wurttemberg-Ravensburg in Germany, received the first place overall award as well as three first place titles in engineering design, endurance, and the SAE Spirit of Excellence.

There were 120 teams from around the world at this competition, entering 106 vehicles. Participants came from the United States, Canada, Austria, Germany, Finland, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

"This is the first time in the history of the Michigan race that a university has won for three consecutive years," said Robert Stone, professor and interim head of the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at OSU. "It's a great accomplishment."

OSU's team, composed mostly of students from the College of Engineering, has been extraordinarily successful in Formula SAE racing in recent years. This sport is extremely popular in Europe, where almost every university sponsors a team, and OSU has also dominated many universities with strong teams in the Midwest, the historic home of the nation's automotive industry.

Cars in Formula SAE racing are judged on such factors as cost, innovation, acceleration, design and other aspects. Students spend thousands of hours working on the vehicles and in the process learn skills in aerodynamics, chassis construction and mechanical engineering as well as business development and fund raising.

Formula SAE racing is organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers.