Cardiff Racing team competes at Formula Student UK

A team of 21 students, from the School of Engineering, made a trip to the National Pits Straight at Silverstone Circuit to compete at Formula Student UK.

Starting on Wednesday 19 July, the team from Cardiff University joined 118 other teams, with their latest car CR19 affectionately known as ‘Basil Faulty.’

Due to a few problems that occurred in the pre-competition testing phase, CR19 entered the competition in a ‘promising but largely untested state’, and the team were uncertain on its upcoming performance.

The first few days of the event involved setting up the pit and the campsite and competing in a series of static events that incorporated elements of design, project management, cost, manufacturing and business.

Over the weekend, dynamic events began which tested the functionality of the car but CR19 developed problems with the clutch servo resulting in a lower position than had been hoped for in the Acceleration and Skid Pad events.

The team resolved the issues that afternoon allowing a competitive time to be achieved on the Sprint event and to set the team up for the Endurance event on the Sunday.

During the Endurance event, CR19 drove triumphantly up the 22km of track, achieving the first finish for Cardiff since 2018. They also achieved a competitive time and took home third place in that event, with team member Aaron Farmer winning an award for his outstanding driving.

Overall, Cardiff Racing were placed sixth at Formula Student UK, improving on their point standing from last year.

Noah Peet, team lead for Cardiff Racing and School of Engineering student, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone in the Cardiff Racing team – you did us all proud. A big thank you to all those who were involved in the EN4101/4111 modules, your help and support was invaluable for the design of CR19.

“Additionally, a massive thank you is due to all those in the Mechanical and EVONA Workshop, who without their help major assemblies of the car would still be missing now. Similarly, without the team in the civils basement, we would have also been stuck – with them quite often rushing something through on a timescale of ‘we need this yesterday please.’

“Finally, a massive thank you to Lee Treherne, who has gone well and truly beyond his job description this year to help care and look after this rag-tag team of people and help build us a car that crossed the finish line.

“We’re looking forward to the year to come so keep an eye out for CR20 – I’m sure it will be the best car yet!”