Formula Bharat 2018: Student engineers showcase their skills on the racetrack 

More than 2000 budding student engineers from 74 engineering colleges across the country participated in the Formula Bharat 2018, held at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Occurring between Jan 25 and 28, 2018, Formula Bharat replicates the Formula Student series that takes place in 11 countries around the world.

The aim of Formula Student is to prepare the students in the best way possible for their professional life by bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and hands-on practical experience. The competing teams develop, construct and test their race cars over the course of the year and fund the project by their own means with the help of sponsorship and donations. The annually held competition then provides these students the platform to showcase their knowledge and skills through a number of disciplines and ultimately letting the cars battle it out on the race track.

The competition was comprised of a number static and dynamic events and the student-built cars underwent highly scrutinized checks according to international standards before they were allowed to compete in the dynamic events which included acceleration, skid pad, autocross and the endurance run on the final day of the competition. The thorough checks also ensured that the cars met a long set of rules and safety standards.

The runners-up of Formula Bharat 2018; Team Defianz

The teams were judged through various static events like business plan presentation, cost analysis and design presentation by judges who are experienced professionals from the automotive and motorsport industry. Some of the mentors of Formula Bharat are the renowned Formula Student judges, Claude Rouelle, Pat Clarke and Peter Jones, who ensure that the participants are exposed to vital international standards.

Understanding that electric vehicles are poised to take over the future of mobility, Formula Bharat this year introduced the Formula Student Electric Vehicle Concept Challenge, which had 19 participating teams along with the 55 others competing in the Formula Bharat combustion category including an all-girls team from Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology for Women, Delhi.

The winners of Formula Bharat 2018; Orion Racing India

The winning team with the best overall performance in the static and dynamic events was Orion Racing India from KJ Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai. Team Defianz Racing from Delhi Technological University, Delhi and Raftar Formula Racing from IIT Madras, Madras, rounded out the podium.