RMIT Team is a world-beater
Aussie engineering students show competitors how to build a prototype racerIt's not like Aussies to blow our own trumpet, but this is one story that must be told.
A team of young engineering students from the RMIT University is now recognised as the best team in the world in the category of 'Formula Student', according to 'Racecar International' magazine.
Formula Student is a category of open-wheel racing one step beyond go karts and is open to prototypes constructed by engineering students from all over the world. The series is yet to commence in South East Asia, but plans are afoot.
The category is organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers ('SAE') and is not concerned with racing alone, since vehicles are evaluated on the strengths of their design, cost, fuel economy, acceleration and endurance.
Formula Student is promoted by the SAE as an enjoyable way of encouraging and training the automotive engineers of the future.
Competing at the Formula Student World Cup on the Silverstone F1 track a couple of weekends ago, the RMIT Racing team won by a 36.6-point margin from the Dutch team at Delft University and the third-placed team from the University of Stuttgart.
112 teams participated in the event and came from America, Australia, Japan, the UK, Germany, Italy and Brazil.
The win at Silverstone caps a highly successful period for the RMIT Racing team. A European championship win three years ago and a second place in the Australasian event during the same year (2004) started the ball rolling, followed by a win in Detroit in May 2006; second place in California, June 2006 and a win in the Australasian event, December 2006.
Consistency was the key to winning the Silverstone event. The Aussie team placed equal fourth in 'Presentation', having already performed respectably in the 'Cost' category. Third place in the skidpan and sprint sections helped maintain the average, but a perfect score in the fuel economy/endurance heat ensured an overall win for both the 'Dynamic Events' and thereby the whole weekend.
The team is now developing their 2007 car ('R07') for the Formula SAE Australasia event scheduled for December.
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