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FSUK 2014
The latest updates from behind the scenes at OBR
OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
TESTING & PREPARATION With a 300km testing target before FSUK, we really bonded with & learnt about Carly 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 + bumpstops 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.
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
SCRUTINEERING The first part of the competition ensures the cars are legal and safe to race 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.
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
SPONSORSHIP NEWS This month we would like to express a special thankyou to the following companies: able to make some final adjustments to the engine map including smoothening out the part-throttle to aid the drivers in the skidpad, and improve the engine efficiency in the full throttle regions, to help increase performance and save fuel in the Accel, sprint and endurance events.
Assembled swan-necks thanks to Royal 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%.
Discount Displays’ tasty pit-banner Finally thanks to DiscountDisplays.co.uk for manufacturing and delivering our pitbanner 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! Carly ready on MAHLE’s chassis dyno 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
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
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XFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
STATIC EVENTS Contributing 325 points in total, the statics are just as important as speed on track 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.
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.
Jeremy Alphonsus headed up the Electronics group, and last but not least Sam Unsworth covered the car’s advanced composite components.
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 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.
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.
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
DYNAMIC EVENTS A busy Saturday featured the Acceleration, Skid-Pad and Sprint events 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.
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
ENDURANCE
The final & most difficult event of the competition was set to make or break us
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 driverchange 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!
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER Re-live completing endurance with the team! Click the image below:
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 postevent scrutineering checks & the pits disassembled 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.
Oxford Brookes Racing – Formula Student UK 2014
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
FSUK - GALLERY
FINAL BUILD
Scrutineering checks in progress Carly arrives at our empty Silverstone pit
Design on-going. New leader observes
Carly catches some deserved rest
Will heads off to score our top Accel time
Race team did a mega job all week
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER GOLD
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OXFORD BROOKES RACING – FSUK 2014 NEWSLETTER
OXFORD BROOKES RACING OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY WHEATLEY CAMPUS WHEATLEY OXFORD OX33 1HX
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