This is it, the car to defend Chalmers world championship colours in the Formula Student race at Silverstone on the 3rd of July. This year’s car is smaller, lower – and blue. ‘It feels good. This is a milestone. There is a long way to go and the last part of the journey will be the hardest, but it is a step in the right direction,’ said Marcus Lindner, newly appointed project manager for Chalmers Formula Student.
This is the world’s biggest engineering race for engineering students and last year it was Chalmers who brought home the overall victory at the fine old traditional Silverstone racetrack in England. On the 3rd of July it will be time to defend the world championship with the new car, which is both lighter and smaller than its predecessor.
‘We are returning to England with number 1 painted on our car. Chalmers Formula Student is now an established top team in this race and we have a lot to live up to,’ said Marcus Lindner.
Considerable interest
Interest was considerable when the 2013 car was unveiled for the public and press in the Volvo Foyer in the Chalmers student union building on the 5th of June. The crowd included this year’s formula student team, colleagues, teachers and many others. A distinct atmosphere of curiosity pervaded.
The excitement is definitely mounting as this summer’s race event draws closer. After last year’s success the number of course applications increased and competition for places has been tough.
But the most important of all is not to win again but to attain the ambitious target of 900 points, compared with the previous winning team’s 851.
‘The target is very high, but we hope and believe we can manage it. It would not befit us as engineers to set up winning the race as goal,’ said Marcus Lindner.
Competing since 2002
Chalmers has competed each year since 2002 – and every year with a new car. Last year the team took first place at Silverstone in UK. And at the German equivalent, Hockenheimring, an honourable third place.
‘The first car was assembled in the parking lot outside the race track. It had been neither tested nor driven, but it worked,’ Anita Schjøll said.
She is studying Entrepreneurship and Business Design at Chalmers and was part of the winning team last summer.
In 2011 Chalmers won their best place yet in the race – fourth – and this provided the encouragement: ‘When I joined the 2012 team we were very impressed by them – “Wow! They came fourth, they’re so brilliant, how can we manage to beat that?” Winning Formula Student is one of the most important events of my life,’ Anita said.
Article in Göteborgs-Posten
A big spread in Göteborgs-Posten’s motor supplement on 24th of May featured project communications manager, Maria Ludvigsson, a master's student in the Production program, who talked about preparations for this year’s race.
‘We work at an advanced level and in collaboration with the automotive industry. Volvo takes an interest in what we do. Our task is to design and build a car in just ten months, a process that takes years in the automotive industry. We are also building an electric car and next year will be working entirely with electrically powered vehicles,’ Maria told Göteborgs-Posten.
The electric car is new for this year but will not be entirely finished this year. There is a team working solely with the development of the electric car and another team developing the follow-up to last year’s winning car.
Electric car powertrain on display
During the unveiling at Chalmers on the 5th of June, the powertrain for the future electric car was also displayed. Jonathan Rice, former project manager, explained:
‘We prioritised manufacture of the car with the combustion engine over the electric car. The electric powertrain and the car into which it will be fitted, requires more attention to parts owing to cost and safety issues. Consequently we judged it not worth the risk to try and hurry forth a complete electric car within the time frame.’
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