Not all of you may be aware but the past few days have been very much make or break for IC06, and so a very special thanks must go out to those involved in the marathon build over the last 72 hours; Adam Seward, Felix Prettejohn, Alex Desneufbourgs, Sam Hutchinson, Alec Georgala, Sam Alcock and Alex Gregory. If it were not for the determination and commitment of these individuals this message would read with an entirely different tone.

So well done all, have a good Easter break, good luck to all for the exams, and we look forward to continuing the development of IC06 with you after exams.

Over this weekend and next week the car will stripped to allow the bracketing to be welded to the chassis for the addition of the final subassemblies to the car now their manufacture is near complete.

This moves the team into the vehicle testing stage of development where the all of the final design iterations are tested together on the car and while the car itself will be tested dynamically on the track.

Our first test day is provisionally to be on Wednesday 27^th March where the car will have its first outing, until then the team will be assembling the car and testing on the dynamometer in preparation for this.

Well done to all the DMT groups for their hard work and dedication to get the car ready so early on in the year allowing us fair testing time to be competitive at the competition.

The partnership further strengthens the relationships between BP and Imperial College.

We are very grateful for their continuing support and hope that the partnership can be maintained for teams in the years to come.

The event attracted over 180 students from 21 different universities all planning to take part in FS event at Silverstone next July.  As well as the London universities there were representatives from Cardiff, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Paris and even a team from Turkey.

The day was divided into two parts.  The morning was dedicated to presentations from industry experts and officials from the Formula Student organisation.  The experts covered two technical topics relevant to the design of a competitive car, powertrain selection and the effective use of composites.  The powertrain topic provided very useful guidance, plus notice of rule changes for 2012 which will place greater emphasis on fuel economy.  The composite discussion highlighted many of the problems ME teams have experienced in the past, of note the difficulties in producing quality patterns and moulds.  The FS officials’ presentation provided valuable guidance on what is required to score well in the design, costing and business reports and presentations.

The afternoon was arranged into 13 separate workshops each providing access to 2 or 3 experts or FS officials, where individuals could seek advice or guidance on specific aspects of their car design or competition entry.  The atmosphere was very dynamic with small groups extracting valuable information on everything from Sustainability to Scrutineering and multiple technical subjects.  Many of the workshop experts were also ex-FS entrants themselves so their advice was based on experiences, even if sometimes not always welcomed.

All of the presentations were recorded and a DVD will be produced and distributed to all attending universities.  It is anticipated that viewings will be arranged so that all ME3 students starting out on FS projects will take advantage of the recordings.

Imperial Racing returned to Silverstone following a disappointing experience in 2009 and determined to make a substantially better showing this year. The car, IC06, was entered in the design category,Class 2, which involved giving presentations on such issues as the actual design, costing and business development to a panel of expert judges. The team presented a substantially developed vehicle and their hard work was rewarded as IC06 finished in fourth place overall, second out of the petrol powered cars – an excellent outcome given the really tough level of competition.

Following this excellent result, Imperial Racing are pushing on with plans to enter Class 1 and race in all dynamic events in July 2011.

This week the suspension team have been in the workshop manufacturing components for IC06. After successful carbon-fibre testing, the wishbones will be assembled soon, watch this space!

Machining of the aluminium ends for the carbon-fibre test wishbones

Finishing of the rod-ends

CNC Rod-ends

More CNC loveliness!