Students from Delft University of Technology won the all-important Class 1A in the recent Formula Student challenge at Silverstone over the weekend (14-17 July).
The class is the special low carbon vehicles category which takes into account energy usage as well as track performance. Delft’s DUT11 electric car not only won its class but the vehicle also beat almost all of its combustion competitors. It was the first time the lightweight, 175 kg car had competed in the challenge and the students were understandable elated by their win.
“We knew that we had built a good car, but I hadn’t reckoned on winning the overall electric classification straight away”, team leader Paul van Tricht said.
Formula Student is an international racing and design competition for student teams. In total 125 teams competed in this years event, with the overall winning team coming from Stuttgart University. Cars are judged on their speed, acceleration and handling.
The University of Hertfordshire scored the best result for a British team, taking third place overall. Other British entries included Coventry University, whose Pheonix Racing team won the ‘Most Fuel-efficient Car’ category and the University of Bath, whose car came 16th.
