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University of Sheffield crowned second British winners of Formula Student

Formula Student Team

Sheffield University
Sheffield University

Team Sheffield Formula Racing fended off fierce competition from multiple teams at event held at Silverstone Race Circuit this week.

A list of full results can be found on the Formula Student website. Award winners can also be found on the Formula Student website.

The team joins 2017 winners Cardiff University as the only British winners of the competition so far, which sees teams design, build and run single seater cars, with events designed to test their vehicle and their engineering knowledge in formal presentations.

Owing to difficulties accessing workshops, the rules were amended to enable vehicles from one and two years of development to compete this year.

“Congratulations to all the teams who were able to make it to this year’s event in difficult circumstances, especially the winners from University of Sheffield,” said Andrew Deakin, Chairman of Formula Student. “We hope everyone who participated enjoyed the experience and look forward to welcoming all teams back to Silverstone for 2022.”

The team from University of Sheffield took the lion’s share of the trophies this year, picking up awards for Endurance, Sprint, Design for second year vehicles and most efficient internal combustion vehicle. Other notable winners included University of Glasgow for winning the first year vehicle Design award, University of Nottingham for both completing endurance for the first time, winning FS Class Business Plan Presentation and coming runner up for best first year vehicle overall and Staffordshire University for winning the best overall first-year vehicle award. Staffordshire University also picked up the Spirit of FS award in recognition for repairing their vehicle after a collision mid-Endurance and managing to complete the Endurance event later on the Sunday.  

Those who were unable to join in-person or running as Concept Class teams were well catered for, with presentations to judges for the Static events taking place online, together with online simulation racing heats and finals in tandem with the Endurance event. This ensured that students got feedback and recognition for their work over the last year in preparation for the start of a new year of the competition. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay's team picked up awards for both Concept Class Design and Concept Class overall, marking a great year for the team despite not being able to join at Silverstone.

2021 also saw Concept Class teams around the world compete in the new Lap Time Simulation event, using IPG Automotive’s CarMaker. Finding a winner of the virtual dynamics simulations proved to be a close call, however the team from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology were just four points clear of runners up Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, setting the standard for when the event goes mandatory for all teams in 2022.

Meanwhile, the FS-AI competition continues to attract new teams to develop autonomous driving systems together with the addition of a second purpose-built ADS-DV unit for university teams to develop their systems. University of Bath’s Team Bath Racing Electric scooping up the lion’s share of the static awards this year, seeing off previous winners from Oxford Brookes and University of Edinburgh.

“At Babcock we recognise innovation isn’t just in cutting-edge technology, it’s in our people too. So as AI Partners for Formula Student, Babcock is proud to be supporting the next generation of young innovators, young technologists and young engineers,” said Malcolm Lee, Head of Innovation & Technology at Babcock International Group, FS-AI’s Partner organisation. “Huge congratulations to all teams for reaching the final and to the winners and we wish them all the best for the future.”

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Formula Student organising committee would like to thank MathWorks, IPG Automotive, GKN Innovation Centre, Babcock International, Cranfield University, RS Grass Roots, Newton Europe, BMW Group and Direct Line Group for their support of Formula Student, together with all the volunteers who contribute their time and expertise to ensure that the competition runs smoothly.

The competition will start again this coming Autumn, which will kick start with the Learn to Win 2022 event to get returning and new team members up to speed.

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