Honda F1 Takes IMechE Formula Student to Top Gear
Bosses at motor-racing giant, Honda Racing F1, have become the latest big name to support Formula Student (FS)– Europe’s biggest student motorsport event.
FS is taking place this year, for the first time at Silverstone, on 13-15 July. It is run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and is the competition which challenges some of the best young engineering minds in the world to compete in a single-seater racing car that they have designed and built from scratch.
Nick Fry, Chief Executive Officer, Honda Racing F1 Team, which is now a partner in the event, said: “We consider Formula Student to be the leading student motorsport engineering event of its kind and Honda is delighted to be a part of it. It creates one of the best learning environments for future engineers and at the same time allows us to forge close links with some of the finest emerging engineering talent.”
“The challenge of Formula One is continually evolving and it is important that we nurture the next generation of engineers to ensure that we maintain the resources to continue to push the technological boundaries. Developing people is something that has always been an important element of the Honda Motor Co., Ltd philosophy,” he added.
Former Scuderia Ferrari Technical Director and IMechE Fellow, Ross Brawn, is the Patron of the event, which is now in its 10th year. He describes the event as offering students first class hands-on technical experience with academic studies and is “an excellent training experience for young engineers”
This year’s event has already smashed entry records from teams with over 110 teams from all over the world (including more than 30 UK teams and as far afield as Japan and India) taking part – each trying to win FS.
The cars undergo a series of dynamic tests at Silverstone such as the Acceleration, Sprint, Skid-Pad and Endurance events but the students’ knowledge, creativity, and imagination are also tested in the equally important Design, Presentation and Cost assessment elements of the competition where they must present their designs to a group of judges drawn from industry and motorsport.
