Students celebrate racing success26/07/2010

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A group of University of Aberdeen students are celebrating success on a world famous race track with a car they built entirely from scratch.

The 22-strong team of engineering students - named TAU Racing – took part in the International Formula Student competition at Silverstone race track last week (July 15 — 18).

The team — who had spent 10 months building the single-seater vehicle — competed against 100 teams from across the globe in the event which challenges students to design, build and then race a formula style racing car.

They ranked 27th overall in contest and came 11th out of the UK teams, and 2nd out of the Scottish teams in the competition.

The team also scooped the prize for the Most Fuel Efficient Car in Class 1 of the competition, which was awarded by Shell.

They were rated in the competition, which is organised by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, on elements including car design, economy, presentation and performance.

This is the second time a team from the University has competed in the annual competition.

Daniel Ahrens, the Project Manager for the team, who has just completed his fourth year of a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University, said: “This year’s event was a fantastic experience and a great challenge for the team, and we were very happy with what we managed to achieve.

“We’re already looking forward to entering the competition once again next year and will be taking all of the lessons we have learnt and applying them to ensure the vehicle we create performs even better.”

ADIL were the main sponsor for the TAU Racing team, who also received support from a host other organisations.

The International Formula Student competition took place from July 15 - 18, at Silverstone in Northamptonshire.

For more information on the competition visit: http://www.formulastudent.com/ 

Notes to Editors

The full list of organisations that sponsored the TAU Racing team follows:

• ADIL
• Airbus
• Technip
• The University of Aberdeen
• The University of Aberdeen Future Fund (formerly Alumni Fund)
• The Listening Company (formerly the Essentia Group)
• Shirlaws Superbikes
• Westgarage Engineering Services
• Deval Machining Services
• John Lewis
• SolidWorks
• Scots Bearings
• Pedal Power Cycle Centre
• ISR Brakes Sweden

Issued by the Communications Team, Office of External Affairs, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen. Tel: (01224) 272014.

Issued on: 23 July 2010

Ref: 254TAUSUCCESS
Contact: Kelly Potts