obr newsletter: fsuk 2014
DESCRIPTION
OBR's Formula Student UK Event report Full results available here: http://events.imeche.org/formula-student/2014resultsTRANSCRIPT
NE WSLE T TER
FSUK 2014 OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK TWITTER.COM/OXBROOKESRACING FACEBOOK.COM/OXFORDBROOKESRACING
The latest updates
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scenes at OBR
FORMULA STUDENT UK EVENT REPORT
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK
An ambitious testing regime was planned
right from the beginning of the year, aiming
to allow us to to work on the reliability
problems that always played havoc with our
results throughout the team’s history. The
main focus was on making sure that the car
would be able to complete the endurance
distance without issue, and therefore
securing a good percentage of the 450
points available in the endurance &
Efficiency events.
The second priority was driver training,
allowing the drivers the opportunity to get
used to driving a ‘wing car’ and pushing the
laptimes down further and further with
every minute in the seat.
The 1 month testing period also allowed us
to really learn about the car itself, and
develop the setup & components on the car
to ensure maximum speed in the dynamic
events. This tuning and setup work allowed
us to collect a shed load of data, which
would be crucial to the success of the team
in the FSUK and FSG design events.
Between the car first turning wheels in
anger at Whilton Mill on the 10th of June
and the pre-competition shakedown on July
7th overall the team were impressed with
the car’s performance. Changes to the front
wing end-plates and the rear wing flap were
made to modify the aero balance to the feel
of the driver, and a spring change + bump-
stops were added to keep the front of the
car from diving under braking while still
keeping an overall improved car setup
compared to 2013.
As expected the car of course suffered a
few problems throughout the testing,
However by the time the car reached the
FSUK competition having completed
250km overall, the team were satisfied that
Carly was ready to shine at competition.
With a 300km testing target before FSUK, we really bonded with & learnt about Carly
TESTING & PREPARATION
OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK
The difference passing scrutineering
quickly can make was demonstrated in full
view in 2013, with the team struggling with
engine issues, meaning we were unable to
pass the brake test until Saturday morning.
However this year it was a stark contrast,
with the car 10th in the scrutineering queue
and into tech first thing on Thursday
morning. We were able to then swiftly pass
through the safety, chassis and technical
inspections, and by 1.30pm we had moved
onto the fuelling area, waiting first in line
for the fuel bays to open at 2:00pm.
After filling up we headed over to the tilt
test area, where the car is tilted up to
45degrees to check for fluid leaks, and
then all the way up to 60 degrees to make
sure that the car is not too unstable as to
roll over in the high G corners. As normal
we passed first attempt, with our bespoke
CFRP fuel tank doing a perfect job.
Once tilt test was completed the team
progressed onto the noise test, and were
able to fire up Carly for the first time of the
competition.
With the loud single cylinder engine, the
noise test has always been a struggle for
the team. However this year with Adam’s
new engine map & a new Akrapovic
exhaust silencer we breezed through at a
(still quite loud) 106db.
Finally after the noise test we just had to
get through the relatively simple brake test.
This is normally a formality for the team,
and this year proved to be no different.
With the brake test passed, we were the 5th
team so far in the competition to complete
Technical Scrutineering, an excellent feat.
The team then headed back to the pits to
prepare the car for the static events on
Friday morning, and took an early night
back to Uni to finalise their design
portfolios, and their cost & business
presentations ready for the static events
first thing on Friday morning.
The first part of the competition ensures the cars are legal and safe to race
SCRUTINEERING
OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK
This month we would like to express a special thankyou to the following companies:
Royal Westcoast Cylinders helped us out
right back at the beginning of June with a
fantastic job manufacturing two CNC
Machined wing-mount pieces for the rear
wing ‘swan-neck’ design. The two pieces
are integral to our rear wing mounting
design, which increases efficiency of the
rear wing by 15%.
New lead powertrain sponsors MAHLE did a
fantastic job organising a last minute
chassis dyno session for us, as our normal
dyno facility became unavailable. We were
able to make some final adjustments to the
engine map including smoothening out the
part-throttle to aid the drivers in the skid-
pad, and improve the engine efficiency in
the full throttle regions, to help increase
performance and save fuel in the Accel,
sprint and endurance events.
Finally thanks to DiscountDisplays.co.uk for
manufacturing and delivering our pit-
banner in super-fast time! Having finalised
the design on Tuesday we were able to set
up the banner on Thursday morning just in
time for design & cost. Fantastic service!
Finally thanks again to all of our sponsors!
Without your support throughout the year
the team would never have dreamed of
achieving what we did at FSUK, we will now
push hard to recover before heading to FSG
Discount Displays’ tasty pit-banner
Carly ready on MAHLE’s chassis dyno
Assembled swan-necks thanks to Royal
SPONSORSHIP NEWS
OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK
An early start greeted the team with our
Design event for breakfast at 9:00am.
Thanks to the Alumni design practise
events that we had held through the year
the team had high hopes for a good result.
Andrew Reimer and Mike Rooney lead the
VD and Suspension Mechanical design
discussion, with Chief Engineer Ben Sandy
taking the Mechanical design and driver
controls systems. Terence Hui looked after
Aerodynamics, while Richard Smith and
Adam Stevens spoke to the judges about
the Chassis and the Powertrain
respectively.
Jeremy Alphonsus headed up the
Electronics group, and last but not least
Sam Unsworth covered the car’s advanced
composite components.
Overall from the design event the team felt
a positive attitude, and were later rewarded
with the news that they had reached the
design finals, which would take place on
Saturday afternoon.
With the infamous design finals completed,
the team waited with baited breath to hear
the results. Amazingly & unexpectedly it
was announced that we had become the
first UK team ever to win an FS Design
competition!
The cost event was next, with Sam
Unsworth facing another hour of grilling as
he also lead the cost team. Alongside him
Mikey Twigge, Chris Shawe & Megan
Berridge took the judges through the car’s
costings, and performed extremely well,
scoring an excellent 17th overall, a personal
best for OBR since FSUK 2011.
Finally the Business Presentation was run
in the afternoon, with George suiting up for
his business pitch to try and gain an
investment from the judges.
Overall the presentation went well,
although a few nervous mistakes were
made. When the results came out we were
8th overall, just 2 places behind George’s
previous best at FSUK in 2012.
Contributing 325 points in total, the statics are just as important as speed on track
STATIC EVENTS
OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK
With scrutineering done, and the static
events out of the way the team were able to
relax and focus on the on-track
performance of the car.
We started the morning queued up first for
the Acceleration run, keen to get on the
circuit before the sun heated up the sticky
Silverstone F1 tarmac, hopefully allowing
the rear wheels to spin and give us an
improved launch time.
After allowing a couple of cars infront to
clean the surface Will Barker managed a
best time of 4.351s, enough to put us 2nd
placed single cylinder, just pipped to top
single by Uni Maribor with a 4.340s.
With the Acceleration runs out of the way
we returned to the pits for a wing-angle and
toe change, and then moved over to run the
now rubbered-in skid-pad track.
Robin Bailes was first in the car, and set a
respectable 5.151 for his first lap. His
second was faster however, and put us in
the provisional pole position with a 4.994
run.
On a more bumpy left hand skid-pad course
Mike Rooney was only able to set a 5.284s
lap to begin, and his second lap was just
0.1s faster with a 5.177s time.
This meant Robin’s time stood, and with
just the torque vectoring 4WD eCars of TU
Delft and ETH Zurich, and top combustion
Monash University beating our time in the
closing stages, we held on for 4th place.
Finally in the afternoon we headed out for
the Sprint runs. Ben hit the track first at the
beginning of the session and set a
respectable 53.057s with just 1 cone.
A couple of hours later George went for his
runs. He was able to keep it clean and put
us 10th overall with a first laptime of
52.653s, although his faster second lap of
52.005 was spoiled by 3 cone strikes.
A busy Saturday featured the Acceleration, Skid-Pad and Sprint events
DYNAMIC EVENTS
OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK
The results achieved so far would mean
nothing however, if the team were not able
to pass the all important Endurance event.
The Endurance is the hardest test on the
FS schedule, with the car required to
complete two 11km stints, with a driver-
change and engine restart in between.
With a total of 450 points available
including efficiency, and just a 20 point
cushion back to TBR, the team had to
perform to take back the #1 UK Team spot.
Almost immediately heart rates increased
as first driver Ben dissappeared after just 2
laps on the far hairpin. However fortunately
40s later he re-appeared, having been held
up by the UAS Zwickau car, which had been
left stranded on the circuit with a problem.
Ben’s laptimes were consistent and fast,
setting the current lap record pace with
each lap he completed, with the TBR car
struggling to match us, actually getting
caught and passed by Ben during his stint.
Soon enough it was time for the driver
change, and all eyes watched to see if we
would be able to re-start the engine with
George in the car.
After two attempts things were not looking
good, however on the 3rd attempt the
engine burst into life, and we soon headed
back out onto the track to finish off the last
11km.
George started to bring down the laptimes
once more, now running down in the 1:01s,
& only challenged by the World #1’s
Rennteam Stuttgart on pace.
With just 3 laps to go George found himself
unable to shift down through the gears. A
problem later found to be caused by a
connector braking from the penumatic
valve block. However having driven with a
similar problem in 2012, George was able
to nurse the car home, and crawled across
the line to take the checkered flag, and
complete the endurance event!
The final & most difficult event of the competition was set to make or break us
ENDURANCE
OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK
When the results were published, we found
that we had indeed scored enough points
to be able to re-claim the #1 UK title, &
finished the competition in 6th place overall.
This is best result for OBR since the team
took 3rd place overall back in FSUK 2006!
With the car then passing through the post-
event scrutineering checks & the pits dis-
assembled and packed back up into the
van & trailer, it was then time for the
traditional team photos out on the main
straight, and the prizegiving ceremony.
Re-live completing endurance with the team! Click the image below:
Oxford Brookes Racing – Formula Student UK 2014
OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK
FSUK - GALLERY
FINAL BUILD
Design on-going. New leader observes
Carly arrives at our empty Silverstone pit
Carly catches some deserved rest
Scrutineering checks in progress
Will heads off to score our top Accel time Race team did a mega job all week
OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OBR.BROOKES.AC.UK
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
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