Exeter students gear up for motorsports

The launch of this year’s Formula 1 season is only a matter of weeks away, but prestigious racing teams such as McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull aren’t the only ones undertaking crucial racing preparations.

A team of students from the University of Exeter are gearing up to take part in the world’s largest student motorsport competition, to be held in July.

The Engineering students will pit their skills and ingenuity against 114 other teams from 38 countries worldwide at the Formula Student competition, which will be held at the home of British motorsport, Silverstone.

Now, they are looking for local sponsorship to help realise their dream of a place on the legendary podium.

Formula Student is an international motorsport competition run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. University teams are challenged to design and build a single seat race car to compete in a variety of static and dynamic tests, challenging both student business understanding and race car performance.

As well as being tested on the track, the innovative students will also have to defend every design decision to industry judges.

It will be the second time that students from Exeter’s College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences have competed in the prestigious competition.

Tim Williams, Exeter Formula Student participant, explained: “Last year was the first time that Exeter entered the competition, and it was an achievement in itself to design and build a car not just to compete at Silverstone, but also win the ‘Best Newcomer’ award.

“We hope to build on that success and prove even more competitive this time around. We are looking at making a lighter car than last year, and also improve steering and handling. We have also completely redesigned the chassis to remove some weight and improve the driver’s position.

“It’s an incredibly exciting project and hopefully we can build on last year’s fantastic success and finish amongst the main contenders.”

The team is now looking for local sponsors to help with the costs of producing the car, as well as attending the race event. Sponsors would have their logos displayed on the vehicle and affiliated promotional materials, and can also attend the race day itself.

Dr Stephen Childe, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and who is overseeing the project said: “The students are doing fantastically well, and are really taking this car to another level of handling, reliability and performance.

“This isn’t just about the University – we hope attracting sponsors will help us turn this into something that the local community can be really proud of and get behind.”

Formula Student takes place at Silverstone on July 9-13.

You can follow the team’s progress on the Exeter Formula Student website. Anyone interested in sponsoring the team should contact Stephen Childe on s.j.childe@exeter.ac.uk