Engineering students race to record finish in international Formula Student competition
Southampton University Formula Student Team (SUFST) celebrated their best ever finish in Europe’s most established educational engineering competition with an eventful performance at Silverstone race track.
The engineering team finished 19th out of dozens of international entrants in Formula Student 2019, with the weekend’s challenges including an impressive 3rd place in the figure of eight skidpad handling event.
Formula Student, which is run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), challenges students to use their creativity and technical skills to design, build and race single-seater cars across a series of events.
Over 80 university teams from more than 20 countries competed from Thursday 18th to Sunday 21st July, with SUFST entering the Stag VI model which has been tested and optimised throughout the academic year.
“Mixed emotions were the theme of our weekend,” SUFST team leader Jake Kneller says. “Despite achieving our best ever result, the team had the car to compete with the very best but were held back by a few small technical gremlins. 3rd overall in statics as the top UK team demonstrated the team’s understanding of how to design and build a race car, with our 3rd place in skidpad showing the car is truly fast.
“As team leader I couldn't be prouder of how much the team have grown this year, and look forward to proving ourselves in our next competitions in Germany and the Czech Republic during August.”
SUFST were ranked 4th in the weekend’s cost event, which evaluated cost vs. performance choices, and secured 6th place in a business event including a commercial presentation justifying a small production run of the Stag VI design. The team finished 10th overall in the design event, which considered the justification for overall and part-specific design choices.
The Stag VI’s performance in the sprint event was unfortunately hampered by an electrical issue, while a spectacular disintegration of the car’s silencer resulted in the racer being too loud to complete the endurance race.
The University of Southampton first entered the IMechE Formula Student competition in 2012. The team is comprised of an ambitious group of students from a number of different engineering backgrounds who possess an intense passion for motorsport.
“I devoted all four of my years at university to SUFST,” Jake says. “The skills learned in that time with the team have propelled me into my dream career as an aerodynamicist in Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing.”