Since the last issue of this newsletter, USM have completed, launched, tested, presented, raced and displayed our 2011 car. That’s a lot to get through in four pages, so we’ll start from the top.

USM11 Launch Night

After nine months of hard work, late nights and extraordinary effort from our small but dedicated team of engineering and business students, USM11 was revealed to the world at Glasgow’s Thistle Hotel, in a launch event attended by well over 100 team members, sponsors and guests.

The evening was introduced by speeches from Sponsorship Director Amy Bolland and Team Manager Andrew Wood, and a video created by David Wilkinson, USM’s in-house media magician, before USM11 was unveiled in all its shiny glory by Andy and Technical Director Gvidas (Jock) Kiseliovas.

All those in attendance, as well as those watching via live web feed,

agreed the launch was a massive success, and everyone, team included, was particularly impressed with the highly professional image presented by the team. First impressions are vital, and USM are determined to carry on presenting ourselves in the best possible light, in order to do justice to the enormous amount of effort contributed by every team member.

Scottish Motorshow

One month prior to launch night, USM took a short break from a busy build schedule to display our 2010 car, USMX, at the Scottish Motorshow held at Knockhill Racing Circuit. Hosted by the Institute of the Motor Industry, USM occupied a stand in the pit garage, promoting the car, team and Formula Student series to interested members of the public.

USM were delighted to support the IMI and Knockhill by running a display, and the team members present were more than happy to spend all day soaking up the atmosphere of supercars, petrol fumes and burning rubber.

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University of Strathclyde Motorsport Formula Student

USM 2010/11 Newsletter Issue 4

www.formulastudent.strath.ac.uk usm_team@hotmail.com

Riverside Museum

News spreads fast, and following reports of the success of our Launch Night, staff from Glasgow’s new Riverside Museum contacted USM to ask if the team would be prepared to display the new car as part of the Museum’s opening weekend.

Unfortunately, one day’s notice was not quite enough time for the team to arrange to transport the car, and an alternative date in September was agreed.

Well, September is here, and USM are fresh from a weekend at the Riverside Museum! Summer race veteran USM11 was on display, accompanied by various banners, a video display, a ‘Beat The Stig’ Gran Turismo challenge and several team members keen to make the most of this opportunity to promote the team to anyone who ventured in to the USM marquee.

Once again, the display was a huge success, with over 300 young (and not so young) visitors having their photo taken with USM11.

Strathclyde Open Day

USM11 leads a busy public life, and this coming week will be no different. As a regular stallholder at the University of Strathclyde Open Day, USM will once again

be displaying this year’s car in Rottenrow Gardens on Tuesday 6th Sept, promoting Strathclyde’s Engineering Faculty and the Formula Student team to potential students and their families. Pop in and say hello!

FSUK’11 - Silverstone

So, on to the main focus of this newsletter - how we got on in the 2011 competitions…

USM were one of 124 teams from 34 different countries competing at Silverstone in the 2011 Formula Student competition, part of a hugely competitive international field, with over 2300 students present, and various guests, judges and industry representatives from the British motorsport and engineering sectors on site for the weekend.

Despite spending most of Thursday waiting in the queue for Scrutineering, USM made a strong start to the competition, passing all Safety and Technical inspections along with Noise, Tilt and Brake tests early on Friday morning. Friday was Static Day, and the afternoon was occupied by USM presenting the team’s business case, design process and manufacturing cost report to the FS judges.

25th place for Cost and a full complement of six Scrutineering stickers were the highlights of a solid day’s performance, and the team headed back tent-wards to eat burgers and lay plans for Saturday’s Dynamic events.

No plans could prepare for the torrential downpour that saturated Saturday morning, however, and USM did well to compete in every event: Acceleration, Skidpad and Sprint. Due to problems with the timing equipment, the Sprint event was delayed significantly, and closed just as USM's second driver was about to head on track for his turn at the Sprint.

Unfortunately, the unexpected Saturday monsoon managed to find its way into USM11’s ECU, and the new Honda CBR600RR engine failed to start. After an entire day of resuscitation attempts, the source of the problem could not be traced in time for USM to compete in Sunday’s Endurance and Fuel Economy events.

Despite this incredibly disappointing turn of events, the experience gained by the 21 team members who made the trip to Silverstone will be hugely valuable as we prepare for next season, and USM will be back in 2012, more determined to succeed than ever.

FSG’11 – Hockenheim

Just two weeks after FSUK, USM made the 900-mile journey to the famous Hockenheimring, home of Formula Student Germany, the most prestigious competition in the international FSAE race series, intent on bettering the team's performance at Silverstone and competing alongside some of the world's finest university race teams.

A fantastic performance on Wednesday saw USM11 pass every part of the stringent scrutineering checks in a single day, one of only thirteen cars to do so, and the team finished the day with all four stickers for tech inspection, tilt, noise and brake tests firmly fixed to USM11's bodywork. Thanks to a successful Wednesday, Thursday was more relaxed, with each driver getting in a few sessions on the test area and the team able to focus on preparation for Friday's static events.

Friday morning was an early start, with the car hoisted up to the marquee above the pit garages for a 9am Design session followed immediately by Cost. USM performed well in the Design event, and were particularly happy with 9th place overall in Cost, showing our capability to place inside the top ten in a hugely competitive international field. Skidpad came next, complete with artificial rain and a respectable mid-table finish, before rounding off the day with the Business Presentation event, where the judges were extremely impressed by USM's original business plan for marketing the

www.formulastudent.strath.ac.uk usm_team@hotmail.com

car as a corporate training event package.

On Saturday morning, USM capitalised on a well-prepared car and a dry track to post a 4.6sec time in the 75m Acceleration event before moving swiftly on to the Sprint event, putting in a competitive time of 60.4sec as the rainclouds gathered on the horizon and coming agonisingly close to running a 55sec flying lap, with a spin on the final corner placing us 42nd in the Endurance qualifying standings.

Sunday's Enduro was a nail-biting, gut-wrenching rollercoaster ride for every member of the USM team, and especially the two Strathclyders in blue race-suits charged with bringing USM11 home safe and dry. As it turns out, the car didn't quite make it home, but it was definitely dry...

A few laps into the race, USM11 was called in to the pit for a safety check after marshals noticed water gushing from the cooling system. Despite having little or no coolant left, the car was not posing a threat to others on track and was allowed to continue. Lap times were consistent, and the driver change went smoothly, with no water left to leak from the damaged pipe.

However, a sheared shifter mount left the car stuck in third gear four laps from the end, and

USM's second driver was faced with the task of nursing the car for another few kilometres. Flags were unfurled and kilts were on ready to cheer USM11 across the finish line, when the engine finally gave up at the second to last corner, just 100m from the finish line on the final lap. Driver James Hall's attempt to roll the car along the final stretch by pushing the wheels was short-lived, as the car risked obstructing others, and USM11 was retired from the Enduro, within touching distance of the chequered flag.

Despite this crushing end to the competition, the team remained positive, and their efforts were recognised by the FSG organisers when USM was presented with an award for 'Riding a Dead Horse - longest distance driven on a dry engine' at the final award ceremony. It's always good to finish the event on a high, and USM left Germany with even more enthusiasm and motivation for the year ahead.

USM12 Begins

Thanks to the effort put in last year, USM are ready and raring to go for the 2012 season. Design work is already underway, and the team are as busy as ever. Thank you to all our sponsors and partners who have supported us this year, and you can be sure you’ll hear from us very soon!