DUT Racing » News

Movie Saturday July 17th: First day of dynamic events

Operations — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:00:10 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Flashback: Awkward moments before FSUK 2010

Operations — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:54:28 +0000

We are currently already back from Silverstone, but all did not go without an awkward moment preceding our trip. Last Monday night, the evening before the truck left for Silverstone, we did a final inspection of the car. Here we discovered the first mechanical failure of the year: our sprocket adapter, the aluminium part connecting the rear sprocket to the differential, had been ruptured.

This part is difficult to produce and we did not have a spare. As it was already 10 o’clock in the evening, we decided to go for two possible solutions. A new sprocket adapter was hand-milled overnight, and several companies near Delft were called in the morning to ask if they could cut the spline. Our second bet was to send 3 team members to our differential supplier, Drexler Motorsport, which is located near the 3-border point of Germany/Austria/Czech Republic.

24 hours later, both solutions had worked out. Machinefabriek Krimpen (MFK), a company specialized in designing and manufacturing drivetrain components, has cut a spline in our hand-milled sprocket adapter the morning we called them. Meanwhile, Drexler had aluminium blanks on stock with the spline already cut, and have turned and milled a new custom sprocket adapter on our request.

The new parts were taken to Silverstone on Wednesday and the entire drivetrain was re-assembled that evening. Thanks to the extraordinary help of MFK and Drexler and a good show of what team work means, we got the car ready for scrutineering just as planned and were able to compete in all dynamic events!

DUT Racing retired during Endurance

Operations — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:19:41 +0000

Yesterday was the last day of the FSUK 2010 event. On Sundays, Endurances are driven. At the beginning of the Endurance, we were 2nd overall in ranking. The weather was still a threat during the start of the Endurance. After the Alternative fuel class, the top ten of Class I started. Ravensburg was the first team to start the Endurance. After one lap, the car started to show some problems: it was unable to shift gears. After half a lap, the car broke down and the DUT Racing was virtually number 1 overall. Then it was our turn for the Endurance. Erik Schmidt was the first driver to come out. The grand stand exploded as he passes the first time. The first part of the Endurance went excellent, setting laps of 58 seconds on the scoreboard. Then the driver change was about to happen. The change was no problem, until the restarting of the engine: no response of the engine at all due to a broken starting relais. Two minutes later, DUT Racing was officially out of the race… Again, not Delft winning FSUK after 3 years of second places overall.

The sadness was enormous. But we have to look forward as FSG will start in two weeks. The team is tremendously motivated to improve on every area and eventually hoping to become champion in Germany!

Great lap in Sprint resulted in a second place

Operations — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:06:14 +0000

Yesterday in the afternoon, the Sprint event was scheduled. Just as in the morning, the threat of rain was still present. Some good teams decided to do their laps early in the Sprint, while we decided to wait and see what happened on track. Monash started with some good laps, until Ravensburg decided to do their laps. The time set by the German/American combination was immediately the fastest of the day. That was the point that we hit the track. With a big applause from the grand stand, we set out first time, unfortunately 3 seconds slower than Ravensburg. Our second heat was better, although there was a lot of traffic on track. Therefore we got an additional lap in which we set the second best time of the day! No other team was able to improve that time.

In the evening, the Design Finals took place. Since we ended within the top 5 of Design Judging, we were invited to defend our design during the Design Finals. Could we win Design Judging for the second time in a row? Unfortunately, Ravensburg was decided as winner and DUT Racing second. A very good result, although we have to hand over the famous Carroll Smith shield to Ravensburg.

All results up until now:

Cost Judging: 5th place
Design Judging: 2nd place
Business Plan Presentation: 9th place
Acceleration: 12th place
Skid Pad: 2nd place
Sprint: 2nd place
Overall (before Endurance): 2nd place

Skid Pad good times as well

Operations — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 12:36:29 +0000

' class='ngg-singlepic ngg-right' />The morning ended with yet another good time on a dynamic event: 5.055 seconds on Skid Pad. The thread of rain was present during both runs for the Skid Pad. Luckily, the rain did not come and thus we could set two dry times. The waiting is for results of other teams.

' class='ngg-singlepic ngg-left' />With these good times on the dynamic events, the waiting for the results of all static events and the start of the Sprint in the afternoon started. Meanwhile, repairing cars for other teams in de Delft truck continues…

New photo’s can be found here.

Also, a new movie is uploaded:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And an other one:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Acceleration completed: 4.05

Operations — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 09:48:42 +0000

' class='ngg-singlepic ngg-right' />We just finished our 4 runs for the accelerations event, setting a fine 4.05 seconds on the scoreboard. The first run did not go as expected: the engine stalled just after the starting line, resulting in a 17 seconds score. Next 3 runs were better resulting in a satisfying 4.05.

Currently preparations are made of the skid-pad runs. Keep an eye on our site for updates!

Satisfied after Static events

Operations — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:09:52 +0000

' class='ngg-singlepic ngg-left' />This morning, DUT Racing attended in the Cost Judging, Design Judging and Business Plan Presentation events. The morning started with Cost Judging. The judges were positive about our Cost Special case presentation, where we had to make a plan about how to produce a certain amount of uprights. The event continued with the general cost judging at which the judges asked questions about for example the wheels and waste carbon fibre during production. The judges were very satisfied about the last test: a random team member was asked to look up the cost of the rear shock-absorber in our Cost report. Luckily, Lennart (our Team Manager) was picked as random engineer.

The morning continued with Design Judging. Seven judges were present to ask questions about the design of our car. The conversations went smooth; the judges were convinced about the level of detail our design. They were especially appreciated about the user-centered approach of our design and the good focus on the amateur weekend racer.

At the end of the morning we were invited to give our Business Plan Presentation. Here, you have to convince a virtual company to invest in your car. After a presentation of 10 minutes and 5 minutes of questions, the company members (or judges) were impressed by our business proposal. A smooth presentation and also a nice end of the static events for now. To be continued…

Scrutineering passed!

Operations — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:02:29 +0000

' class='ngg-singlepic ngg-right' />The first day of Formula Student UK 2010 has been a success for DUT Racing. In the morning, safety and technical inspections were passed without any major problems. After the introductional speech by the organization and interviews with Formula One familiars like former driver David Coulthard, Renault team principle Bob Bell, Michael Schumacher’s race engineer Andrew Shovlin and Virgin’s Head Designer Nick Wirth, the second part of Scrutineering started.

During the Tilt Table test, where the car is placed on an inclined table, was passed easily. The test after the Tilt Table, Noise and Brake test, were also no problem for the DUT10. Although completed in reversed order, the Scrutineering sticker for FSUK 2010 is completely filled! The team is currently preparing for the statics events planned for tomorrow morning.

Photos can be found over here.

Here you can see an impression of our first days at the event:

Click here to view the embedded video.

DUT10 passed Scrutineering part one!

Operations — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:21:46 +0000

This morning at 11:58, we passed the first part of Scrutineering. Percy (95 percentile man) fitted nicely in the car, templates were correct and the Officials checked all technical aspects of the DUT10. The weight of the car made the team members really proud: 137 kilograms. This confirms that our lightweight philosophy has worked out well.

In the afternoon, Tilt table, Noise and Brake tests are scheduled. More information about those results will follow as soon as possible! Photo’s can be seen here.

Arrival at Silverstone, ready for Scrutineering

Operations — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:04:37 +0000

One week after the Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone, DUT Racing arrived at the circuit of Silverstone to compete the Formula Student UK competition. Today, all preparations on the campsite and in the pits have been completed, such that we are ready for Scrutineering, which is about to start.

Special thanks goes out to Pinks, putting much effort into making up banners with all design specifications, important for a successful event. Pinks not only provided us with these banners, but also helped us earlier this year during the Roll-out.