Formula Sun Grand Prix is governed by the
Innovators Educational Foundation, and was started in summer 2000 at
Heartland Park race track in
Topeka, Kansas, in conjunction with a
solar-bike race. It has served as a qualifying race for the biennial
American Solar Challenge road race. The race was held there every year through 2005 until the 2007 American Solar Challenge was canceled due to funding issues. It resumed in 2009 and has been held every year since then at a few different venues.
2000 The inaugural race was held at
Heartland Park Topeka race track in
Topeka,
Kansas. It was won by
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's
Solar Phantom V. The stock class was won by the
University of Missouri-Rolla's
Solar Miner II.
2001 FSGP 2001 served as a qualifier for the 2001
American Solar Challenge and was the only year when multiple events were held. • The first event was again held at
Heartland Park Topeka and the
Rose-Hulman again took first place overall with
Solar Phantom VI, while the stock class was won by the co-op team from
Minnesota State University, Mankato and
Winona State University. • The second event was held at
Gingerman Raceway in
South Haven, Michigan, and was won by
Principia College's
RA IV, while the stock class was won by
Stanford University.
2002 FSGP 2002 was held at
Heartland Park Topeka and was won by the
University of Missouri-Rolla's
Solar Miner III, while the stock class was won by
Kansas State University.
2003 FSGP 2003 was held at
Heartland Park Topeka and served as a qualifier for the 2003
American Solar Challenge. It was won by the
University of Minnesota's
Borealis II, while
Kansas State finished just one lap behind in second place. The stock class was won by
North Dakota State University.
2004 FSGP 2004 was held at
Heartland Park Topeka and the
University of Missouri-Rolla's
Solar Miner IV 2009 After a three-year hiatus due to a lack of funding,
FSGP 2009 was held at
MotorSport Ranch in
Cresson, Texas. The
University of Minnesota's
Centaurus took first place overall.
2010 FSGP 2010 was again held at the
MotorSport Ranch Cresson and served as a qualifier for the 2010
American Solar Challenge. It was won by the
University of Michigan.
2011 FSGP 2011 was held at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
Indianapolis,
Indiana, as part of the
Indianapolis 500's 100th-anniversary celebrations.
Minnesota's
Centaurus II took first place overall.
2012 FSGP 2012 was held at the
Monticello Motor Club in
Monticello,
New York, and served as a qualifier for the 2012
American Solar Challenge. It was won by
Michigan.
2013 FSGP 2013 was held at
Circuit of the Americas in
Austin, Texas.
Oregon State University's
Phoenix took first place overall, while
Illinois State University's
Mercury IV finished one lap behind in second place, and
Iowa State University's
Hyperion finished one lap behind them in third place.
2014 FSGP 2014 was again held at
Circuit of the Americas and served as a qualifier for the 2014
American Solar Challenge. It was won by
Michigan. The race was marred by an electrical fire in a garage causing many team's cars and equipment to be damaged by water from the complex's sprinkler system.
2015 FSGP 2015 was held again at
Circuit of the Americas on July 29–31, 2015. It was won by
Iowa State University with 223 total laps and a fast lap of 4:30.444, both track records for solar cars. Hot weather forced most of the teams to have to pull into the pits at times to cool their batteries. The
University of Calgary became the first Cruiser team to compete in FSGP. • Teams with a Cruiser Class vehicle tied below the next conventional team.
2016 FSGP 2016 took place at Pitt Race in
Wampum, Pennsylvania on July 26–28, 2016. It served as a qualifier for the 2016
American Solar Challenge. It was won by
Michigan.
2017 FSGP 2017 was held again at
Circuit of the Americas on July 6–8, 2017. It was won by the CalSol team of
UC Berkeley with 228 total laps.
2018 FSGP 2018 was held at Motorsports Park Hastings in
Hastings, Nebraska on July 10–12, 2018. This year featured the first ever Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class at FSGP, which was won by
University of Minnesota with triple the score of the runner-up, setting a record as the first team to win FSGP 5 times. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by
Polytechnique Montreal with 403 laps.
2019 FSGP 2019 was held at
Circuit of the Americas in
Austin, Texas on July 4–6, 2019. The Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class was won by
University of Calgary with a Score of 24.188. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by
Polytechnique Montreal with 230 laps.
2020 FSGP 2020 was planned to return to
Heartland Park Topeka on July 10-16, 2020, but was postponed to September and ultimately cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 FSGP 2021 was held at
Heartland Park Topeka on July 30-August 1, 2021. The Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class was won by
University of Minnesota with a Score of 26.873. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by the
University of Kentucky with 250 laps.
2022 FSGP 2022 was held at
Heartland Park Topeka on July 5-7, 2022. The Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class was won by
Polytechnique Montréal with a Score of 135.4. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by
Principia College with 299 laps.
2023 Electrek FSGP 2023 was held at Heartland Motorsports Park. Topeka, KS June 27 - July 2. The Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class was won by the University of Florida - 707.5 miles (283 laps). The Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class was won by
Polytechnique Montréal with a 137.3 points / 1,315 person miles (263 laps).
2024 ; #5
University of Florida; #6
University of California, Berkeley Electrek FSGP 2024 was held at the
National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, KY from July 16-18th. The 2024 event served as the qualifier for the Electrek
American Solar Challenge 2024 which immediately followed FSGP. Difficult weather resulted in many teams not meeting the qualification requirements for ASC with some being granted provisional qualification. The Single Occupant Class was won by team Éclipse from
École de technologie supérieure with 215 lap completed for a total of 677.25 miles. The Multi-Occupant Class was also won by a team from
Montreal with Project Esteban from
Polytechnique Montréal earning the top score of 88.57.
2025 For the second year in a row, Electrek FSGP 2025 was held at the
National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in
Bowling Green, KY. It took place between July 3rd-6th, with 33 teams competing in this year's event. The Single Occupant Class was won by team Illini Solar Car from the
University of Illinois, with their car Calypso completing 223 laps for a total of 702.5 miles. For the fourth consecutive year, the Multi-Occupant Class was won by a team Esteban from
Polytechnique Montréal, with a score of 148.4. ==See also==