Formula Student Wrap Up

To say the 2023 Formula Student Program was a rollercoaster ride of emotions would be an understatement. The whole event had its challenges which were eventually overcome in good spirits with the whole team. The following passage is an account of the Thursday scrutineering/testing day and also the endurance race on Friday.

The scrutineering of the build quality and safety aspects of the car went very smoothly on Thursday and the car was passed to be on the track. We had sponsors that were able to have a drive around Lakeside Park race circuit in appreciation for their contribution to the project and that all seemed fine but the car looked down on power.

After many half laps trying to diagnose the problem, it was discovered that the V-Twin 20.5 HP engine was only running on one cylinder due to the internal push rods being bent at 30 degrees and dislodging from the rockers. How, when and why this occurred is unknown. We were able to locate replacement push rods from Dalby SHS and install these with a torque wrench to tighten them down to the correct setting however, these kept dislodging It was also discovered that there was something else wrong with the piston so at this point, we really needed another engine. Unfortunately there weren’t any spare engines and we had to take one from an existing promotional clubman and install that in ours which was a two hour process and we were losing light. We just made the change in time with low light, got it started but could not test it due to noise restrictions. We left the track at 8pm.

Friday’s Race Day came and we were able to start it up to warm the engine just before the students arrived at the track. The teacher and student briefings occurred ensuring that everyone knew what the rules were to avoid receiving penalties which would take teams off the track in a “sin bin” for a period of time. The last minute team chat was had, race suits and PPE applied and then we were ready to line up ready to be released on the track. As it was a six hour endurance race, it didn’t really matter in what order we were in.

We entered the track in last position as cars are released with a distance between them for safety. Everything was going well with Nico Calabrese, Jackson Beale and Oscar Clay getting their four laps in with competitive times just under two minutes and climbing to 7th position after entering the tack last. Oliver Cottam got in to drive and after two laps, lost power to the engine and had to be towed into the pits. We were quite deflated at this point as it was a relatively new engine and having it fail so soon was so disappointing. 

We were determined not to give up as we had only driven 30 minutes. Both myself and Mr Adrian Gray did what we could to try and work out what was wrong but it was but clearly it was beyond us. We were lucky enough to have a couple of parents there on the day, Shannon Clay and Ty Beale who were our saviours. We were off the track for 90 plus minutes as they tried to diagnose the problem which included disconnecting the module that controls the spark to the engine. To cut a long story short, the problem ended up being a faulty oil sensor at the bottom of the engine which could barely been seen. Once this was disconnected, the engine fired up and we were back in the game, albeit coming dead last. 

Oliver jumped back in followed by the rest of the class, Fergus Duff, Kynan Hale, Leon Karena, Henry Knight, Jacob McKinnon before coming in to refuel. The car was performing on rails. All boys were putting in competitive laps well under two minutes. Griffyn Seagren, Munro Wood and Darcy Woodroffe all completed their compulsory four laps. We were very happy about this as all students got a drive. Now they needed to decide as a team whether they were going to distribute the time evenly or put in the faster drivers to try and make up a few positions and save the day. The team chose the latter option and it was on. Henry Knight, Jackson Beale, Fergus Duff, Leon Karena and Jacob McKinnon got back it to rip it up. This strategy proved to be very successful as we made it back up to 16th place as the boys were passing everything in sight with Fergus Duff achieving the fastest lap of the day with a 1 minute 39 seconds. Coincidentally, the Fastest Lap of the Day used to be a separate Trophy in previous years but was not awarded this year. Sadly we ran out of time but made it back up to 16th place from dead last. All boys were amazing remaining positive throughout the whole day with the highs and lows and loved the experience. They drove exceptionally well without incurring any penalties, their behaviour and conduct on the day was extraordinary and this is a credit to each and every one of them.

A huge debt of gratitude must be given to Shannon and Ty Beale for saving that day and solving the issues with the engine with son Jackson and other students handing him the equipment and tools he needed to diagnose the problem. I cannot thank you enough!

A special thank you to Mr Adrian Gray who was responsible to securing many of our sponsors to allow our car to be the unofficial Best Presented Race Car there on the day. This was also a previous award given out but was overlooked this year.

I have thanked our major sponsors before but need to do this again for supporting us on this amazing journey. We could not have produced such an impressive looking car without your support.

• Procloud Creative - for producing the amazing Marist inspired wrap for the car.
• Bridgeman Stainless - for helping produce various CNC cut aluminium engine shielding, TIG welding and stainless-steel vented brake discs.
• Workshop 28 - for preparing and respraying the white base coat for the fibreglass shell.
• Harts Paints - for providing all automotive paint including the white base paint as well as blue and gold trim on various components.
• Noone - for providing the Marist College shirts for the whole team.
• Thermal Edge Coating – for ceramic coating the exhaust system.

It can be hard to measure success when you don’t achieve your ultimate goal but there were certainly many positives that we can take away from the day and apply these to next year. I was reminded by a colleague here this week who said, “that’s racing!”. This statement could not be closer to the truth.

Please follow us next year!