Hello and welcome to Imperial Racing! As part of the Imperial Formula Student Team, you are participating in one of the most exciting and fun projects at Imperial.
As I’m sure you are all aware, this year the team started completely from scratch, with a new vision and direction. We rebranded the team and in September put together a strong 4th year team with the 3rd years joining in the middle of October. We are entering for the design prize this year which means that we need to innovate and be clever with our designs. Hopefully we can restore Imperial’s reputation as one of the Best Engineering Universities in the World at Silverstone in July.
There are now 50 people on the Imperial Racing Team with 20 of these dedicated to engine projects. We have now selected the Aprilia RVX 550 as our race engine, which means we have an exciting year ahead, designing and making a car as close to the main Formula Student Competition entry as possible. This will enable the current 3rd years to take a successful car to the competition in July 2011. Something that has not happened for many years at Imperial.
For those who have not heard of FS before:
Formula Student is an International Competition that challenges students to design, make and test an open wheeled weekend racer within the following brief:
“The students are to assume that a manufacturing firm has engaged them to produce a prototype car for evaluation. The intended sales market is the non-professional weekend autocross or sprint racer, and the firm is planning to produce 1,000 cars per year at a cost below $25,000 (c £16,000, €21,000).”
All members on the team are required to adhere to the Formula Student Rules, which is a 120 page document. So please read them at www.formulastudent.com/rules.
Leo Martins (Imperial Racing Team Principal)
Imperial and Formula Student
Imperial Racing represents Imperial College London in the Formula Student competition. Founded in 2000, the team has rapidly grown popularity at the college, attracting many enthusiastic and dedicated 3rd and 4th year Mechanical Engineering students. The team, supported by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, aim to design and build a small single seat race car to participate in Formula Student.
This year, cars will be built on a two-year rotation with each car having a three-year life cycle:
- Year 1: Design and Class 2 competition entry
- Year 2: Class 1 competition entry
- Year 3: Dynamic analysis test bed
The three-year life cycle ensures that the car is subjected to an in-depth design period as well as an extensive testing phase. Improvements are made to the car before each competition entry, using the experience and knowledge gained from the previous year in addition to suggestions made by the Formula Student judges.
