On 7th August, students from the PWR
Racing Team will take part in their first Student Formula race in the season. At
the CzechRing in Hradec Kralove they will compete with their new car, the RT05.
The work on the vehicle is just being finished.
"Members
of our team now set the parameters of the engine and finish off individual elements
of the car. The work includes painting, changing fastening points and sealing."
- says Magdalena Klimek from the PWR
Racing Team marketing crew - "We are just finishing."
The car has
a steel frame and panelling made of carbon fibre. It is powered by Honda CBR motorcycle
engine with a displacement of 599 ccm. When finished, it will weigh less than 210
kg and will be the lightest car built by Wrocław University of Technology students
so far. Also, it's the sixth vehicle designed by the PWR Racing Team but the fifth
built (the first one was a virtual project).
The Student
Formula races are organized by the International Association of Automotive Industry
Engineers. The competitions are an opportunity for students to develop skills required
by employers in the automotive industry. They must design the car, build it, and
achieve the best possible result on the racetrack, as well as present a business
concept of launching the vehicle onto the market.
Yt2
Several dozens
of Student Formula races are organized all over the world. Some of them count to
general classification, while other don’t. The teams usually take part in three
competitions organized on their continent. The number of points earned in a particular
race depends, of course, on the car’s position in the final standings but also on
the rank of the race determined by a coefficient calculated on the basis of the
results of the participating teams in the previous edition. The points awarded in
the race are then multiplied by the coefficient to give a final result of a team
after the race weekend.
Yt1
This year, students
from our University plan to participate in the competitions in Hradec Kralove (Czech
Republic, 7th August), and in Italy (31st August), and then
take a longer break. The third appearance is planned in July 2015. They expect they
will be classified in the Top 10 of this year’s Student Formula. “We are working
hard to achieve this aim” - assures Magdalena Klimek.
PWR Racing Team
is supported by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. “It is at the Faculty premises
that we do most of our work.” - says Magdalena - “We wouldn’t do without access
to the Faculty machinery stock, with which we performed ca. 60% of the machining,
such as bending, energy absorber crash tests, part of the welding, and all the work
we couldn’t do at our sponsors. The Faculty also makes all the financial settlements
and has a lion’s share in the financing of the project.
The project
also receives support from sponsors. These include the Lincoln Electric company,
thanks to which the team could make many welded elements, ZM Toruń, which helped
to make stub axles, or Stelweld, which allowed the laser cutting of many elements
of the car.
lucy
Translation: Dariusz Więcławski