Team Orion Racing India of K.J Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai, emerged champions at the first JK Tyre Formula Design Challenge 2015.
The competition, which started off on January 20, witnessed thrill and enthusiasm among the participants, faculty, and organisers for six days at Kari Motor Speedway at Chettipalayam near Coimbatore.
Over 900 engineering students from 36 colleges across the country participated in the event.
Their designs were evaluated by a panel consisting of Ian Thomson, an international motorsport enthusiast, Maria Bonilla-Torres, System Designer for Robert Bosch GmbH, and Felix Scherke, Research Engineer at Daimler.
Team Formula Manipal (Manipal University) and Pravega Racing (VIT University) stood at second and third positions respectively.
As winners, members of Team Orion Racing will get an opportunity to spend a day with JK Tyre’s race engineers during one of the JK Tyre race weekends. This will give them real time experience of what goes in a race pit, said Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport, JK Tyre & Industries Limited.
The Convener of JK Tyre Formula Design Challenge 2015 Soumya Kanti Bose said that the event witnessed immense enthusiasm among the student community. “Despite it being the first year, we have seen some great designs from all the participating teams,'' he said.
Delta Inc., which is run by B.Tech/ BE alumni from engineering colleges across India including the IITs organised this event (JK Formula Design Challenge).
Congratulating the winners, Sanjay Sharma said that the country has the potential to excel in the global automotive engineering scene. “It is very reassuring to see such professionalism and expertise among these young engineers,” he added.