Canterbury electric race car brings rewards

Five trophies from the 2019 Formula Student car racing competition in Australia will grace the University of Canterbury Motorsport (UCM) team’s trophy cabinet.

The team was third overall out of 32 international teams at Winton Raceway in central Victoria this December.

Formula Student is a 20-year-old competition in which university students design, construct and race a single-seat race car.

UCM student teams have been rated among the best in the world in Formula Student motorsport, re-affirmed at the recent competition in which students from across Australia, New Zealand, India and Japan competed in various race events.

The UCM19 electric car came second in three out of four race events and the team was the top performing from New Zealand.

UC mechanical engineering department design engineer Bruce Robertson mentors the students on the UCM race car team. He says it was the only team able to really challenge the dominant pace of the team from Monash University.

“It’s incredibly satisfying to see young engineers in action, taking an opportunity and absolutely going for it,” Robertson says.

“I’m very excited to see what comes next.”

The project is shared equally between UC’s electrical and computer engineering and mechanical engineering departments.

“It was such a buzz to experience first-hand the passion and enthusiasm of the students and see them reap the rewards of a year-long endeavour,” UC mechanical engineering head professor Mathieu Sellier says.

The UC Motorsport team gained second in acceleration, autocross and endurance, plus third in EV class overall and engineering design.

Angus the UCM Kiwi accompanied the team for the sixth time on a campaign to Australia.

“He’s never been with a car that wasn’t the talk of the competition, and this one was no different,” Robertson says.

“Our team and the products they design and build really are exceptional. I overheard a spectator comment to his friend that our car looks similar to one of the top competitors from Europe. His friend’s reply was ‘No, Canterbury don’t build anyone else’s car. Canterbury build Canterbury cars’.”