Falcons, start your engines! The 2nd annual BGSU Grand Prix is coming.
The Bowling Green Motorsports Club is holding the race tomorrow.
The Grand Prix features University students racing go-karts around a fifth-of-a-mile track for 65 laps in the library parking lot.
Preparing for the Grand Prix for drivers is hard work, according to Kevin Davis, BGSU Motorsports president.
‘People think you can just sign up and jump into the race,’ Davis said. ‘You have a team and you build your car, fix it and race it.’
The drivers take the race seriously and it can get very competitive, Davis said.
‘It’s not like driving go-karts at the putt-putt course,’ Davis said. ‘They can go about 50 mph.’
This year’s field of competitors includes six teams from the BGSU Motorsports Club, one team from the physics and astronomy department and one team from the construction management department.
The Grand Prix is a distance event for go-karts; it’s not a short race, according to Alex Hann, race chair.
‘It’s a test of endurance,’ Hann said. ‘It usually takes about 30 or 40 minutes to complete the 65 laps.
The club is also working on getting a permanent track built instead of putting barriers up in the parking lot.
They hope to also get a league going so they can have races against other schools.
‘Our goal is to make a league and have a national championship that we compete for with other schools,’ Davis said.
Adam Huff, sophomore, wanted to participate in the event but missed the sign-up.
‘I wanted to drive when I heard about it last year and I just forgot about it,’ Huff said. ‘Who’s not interested in driving go-karts?’
The track will open at 10 a.m. in the morning for practice sessions.
There will be three races, the first being the Future Falcons, a group of children from the Fremont area who have a 12 lap race at 12:30; the Junior Achievement race, which features high school students competing in a 50 lap race; and the Grand Prix is the final event starting at 2:15.
In the case of rain the event will still be held but the practices may be shortened or eliminated to speed things up.
‘We will run rain or shine,’ Hann said.
