They could have been another bunch of tech-savvy teenagers living it up on the campus, but for the past four years, 11 students of the Delhi College of Engineering have been driven by a passion for Formula One racing. After getting the best endeavour award for the automobile they designed at the Formula Student competition at Bruntingthorpe, Leicester, UK last year, the members of the Defianz Racing Team have won rave reviews for the automobile they designed for the 2004 competition. “This year’s machine was lighter, had better handling capabilities and looked great,” says team coordinator, Anuj Choudhary.
Though the team finished 37th out of 68 university teams from around the world, it was a great learning experience maintains Gaurav Mathur, the brain behind the design “Over time, teams learnt to develop state-of-the-art machines tested by drivers like Mika Hakkinen and Eddie Irvine. We are moving in the right direction.”
The big difference this time round, adds team leader Arpit Gupta was weight. “Owing to ample use of military-grade aluminum, it reduced from 415 kg last year to 300 kg this year,” he adds.
Also the car had a sleek, low-slung look thanks to the design inputs from AGM Technologies. The colour scheme was blue and yellow inspired by
Renault F-1 team. For the competition this year, the students travelled to Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, 8 miles south of Leicester.
The engine is a Japanese 600 cc Yamaha YZF R6. They were measured on a scale of 1,000, of which 650 go to the race. “The rest is presentation, cost report and design analysis,” says Rajansh Miglani, a student of electrical engineering. Here’s raising a toast to the young engineers.