Warwick students geared up and ready for international race

‘Warwick Racing’, assisted by staff from WMG and the School of Engineering, are taking their racing car (WR4) to compete in the UK Formula Student competition at Silverstone racetrack this July.In the run-up to the competition the two sides, Warwick Racing and Monash Motorsport, have come together at the University of Warwick to share expertise as part of the Monash-Warwick Alliance.Despite the spirit of friendly pre-race collaboration, the two sides will be pitted against each other in the three-day event starting on 9 July. Warwick Racing will be the only British team to race at the competition.

The Warwick team recently travelled to Monash, in Australia, to take part in events with Monash Motorsport.  They received funding from the University of Warwick’s Innovative Manufacturing and Materials Global Research Priority programme and Warwick Students’ Union to enable them to do this.Project Manager, Oliver Adams said: ‘We’re really excited about taking the car to Silverstone this year. It’s a fantastic opportunity to get involved in motorsport and advanced engineering and the chance to work with, and race against, the Monash team gives us a great international perspective. We’ve had a lot of fun with them here on campus and we hope to keep up the long term collaboration.”The Formula Student events, which take place all over the world, provide an opportunity for Warwick’s next generation of young, innovative engineers to put their skills to the test. The Warwick Racing Four (WR4) is a single seat racing car, weighing around 180kg. Warwick Racing have used entirely natural fibres for the car body work and the seat is made from volcanic rock fibres so it is a great showcase for sustainable automotive design.

This year’s team have modified the car design since it last raced at Melbourne in December.Chief Engineer, Liam Bloxham said: “This year, we have been particularly focused on using industry standard software to optimise parts. This has led to the innovation of a carbon fibre nose-cone crash structure and a new flexible drive system.” “The team are now pushing new technology to get that extra level of performance into the car in time for the competition.”Each year Warwick’s fourth year Engineering students compete in the educational motorsport competition which counts for 25 per cent of their final degree grade.

The project work provides the opportunity for Warwick students to experience a taste of life in the world of automotive design and engineering.WMG Senior Teaching Fellow Howard Neal has been supporting the students in the project. He added: “Formula student provides an opportunity for the students to race in an international competition and builds on exactly the kind of skills employers are looking for in the real world of engineering after university.”