Formula Student is Europe’s most prominent educational motorsport event. It challenges engineers to design, build and compete as a team with their single racing car. The annual event run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) attracts 95 teams representing universities from all corners of the globe. It challenges students to design, build and race a one-person, open-wheeled race car assuming that a manufacturing firm has engaged them to produce a prototype car for evaluation as a potential production item. The team’s hard work culminates in July at the actual Formula Student event, which takes place at the famous Silverst one Racing Circuit. It is here that teams demonstrate to the judges, in a series of events, that the car is fit for purpose and presenting a business plan that sells their concept to potential investors. The Formula Student competition features two main disciplines, the Static Events and the Dynamic Events.
On a track similar to the autocross, a race is driven across 22 kilometers. After eleven kilometers the teams have to do a compulsory driver change which has to be performed with in three minutes. The team who finishes the endurance with the fastest time wins.
The car is accelerated from a standing position across a distance of 75 meters. Again two drivers of each team get two chances to master the challenge and the fastest time counts.
At the autocross event a 1 kilometer sprint circuit has to be driven to show how easy the car is to drive. This circuit consists of straights, hair pin bends and slaloms. No training laps are permitted and the best lap time is taken to determine the start position in the endurance race. All teams supply two drivers who have two tries. The fastest lap time of the four runs counts.
Two circles with a diameter of 15.25 meters each, forming an eight have to be passed twice. Two drivers of each team have two tries to get through the so called skidpad as quickly as possible. The fastest lap time of all four trials is taken for judgement.
During the endurance race the energy usage is being monitored using an energy meter from the competition that is installed in the car. The car that is the most energy efficient will get the highest score
An engineering design report is handed in to the jury before the event starts and defended at a design presentation in front of expert judges. Evaluated are not only the use of new materials and creative assembly technologies, but also the overall construction and weight of the vehicle.
Costs are an important factor for building a race car. Hence, the students deal with cost estimations, manufacturing techniques and processes in the Cost Event. The discipline consists of a written report (the Cost Report) and a discussion with the judges around the manufactured prototype. The Cost Report contains a list of all components.
With a clever business plan and a convincing sales talk, the students are supposed to sell a short run order of their race car to a fictional investment group, represented by the jury.