Congratulations to Cardiff Racing who came out overall winners of FSUK (Formula Student UK) 2017. The team put in an outstanding performance at Silverstone over the four days 20-23 July.

First ever UK winner of FSUK

Cardiff became the first UK team in history to win the four day competition. They performed well in a number of events. The team were second fastest in both the gruelling 22km Endurance Challenge and the 1km Sprint time trial, before penalties. The Cardiff University team came first after points were combined from eight separate challenges. They won five awards in total: Exxon Mobil innovation award, Bosch best engineered brake system, Jaguar Landrover virtual engineering award, sprint winner and the coveted overall FSUK17 winner.

Luca Di Marino (one of the drivers) and Alex Goff, joint team leaders, said, “We could never have dreamt of this in a million years. In all the years of competing at Formula Student, Cardiff have never been victorious so all credit must go to the team for a great effort – it’s beyond our wildest dreams. The other teams were great and we just want to thank the university as well as our families and friends for their support. We couldn’t have done it without them!”

Widespread improvements in car's design and build

Team lead Alex went on to say that the crew’s new car was “The best ever after widespread improvements.” The team installed an electric clutch, a three-cylinder Triumph Street Triple engine – more reliable and powerful than the previous Aprilia V-twin – and moved to a more efficient ethanol-based E85 fuel, reaching almost 90bhp out of the wheels.

After applying penalties, Cardiff came first in the Sprint time trial, as fastest team Bath lost points due to a cone collision. Judges then combined scores from this event with those from drag race-style acceleration tests, a figure-of-eight Skid-Pad Challenge and the Endurance Challenge.

International event

Approximately 100 teams from around the world competed in the IMechE event with both combustion and electric cars. Formula Student project leader Lucy Killington said, “It gives budding engineers real-life experience in design, manufacturing and business aspects.”

As well as the dynamic, moving challenges, judges awarded points for cost and sustainability, business presentation and engineering design. The cars came in various styles, with some like Cardiff using large wings and others opting for sleeker, wing-free designs.

You can read more about how Axminster Tools  & Machinery has supported Cardiff Racing and their new car in a previous article.