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Taking place between 13 and 15 July, this year’s competition is shaping up to a memorable one as 2017 Overall Winners, and the first-ever UK winners of the competition, Cardiff University return to compete against 129 other teams from over 30 countries.
The competition challenges student engineers to design and build single-seat race cars which are tested on speed, acceleration and endurance, while the students themselves are judged on their design, costing and business presentation skills. With spectator tickets now available, don’t miss out on securing your chance to attend one of Europe’s most established engineering educational competitions.
Run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 2017’s iteration of the annual competition saw more than 2,000 students from 24 countries pack out the Silverstone paddocks. The main Class 1 competition saw 19 electric vehicles and 73 cars with combustion engines, including Cardiff University’s, compete.
In a close competition, overall winners Cardiff Racing were followed by UB Racing from the University of Birmingham and Swedish team Karlstad University in second and third place respectively.
Luca Di Marino and Alex Goff, Joint Team Leaders at Cardiff University, 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!”
Andrew Deakin, Chairman of Formula Student, said:
“It’s great to see a UK team doing well and to win the overall competition. Cardiff Racing’s entry was fantastic, their car was innovative and that showed with their performance on the track.
“It has been a superb competition overall, with the rain holding off for the endurance event – all teams seemed to really enjoy themselves. Congratulations to all who took part and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for a bigger and better event next year.”
Formula Student usually forms part of the students’ engineering degree course and counts towards their final mark. For new teams who may not have the experience to produce a fully working vehicle, Class 2 encourages teams to submit their designs and any manufactured parts for judging.
Dozens of Formula Student alumni have progressed to Formula 1, and hundreds more are now working at the world’s largest automotive firms helping to design and engineer the cars of tomorrow.
You can join the excitement and buzz around the paddock for the full weekend or with individual day tickets. Bring the whole family for a great day out, under 16’s go free, and see the future of engineering in action.
Find out more about the competition.