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What’s striking about the engineering facilities at the University of Brighton is the emphasis on lab-based teaching spaces on campus. While Brighton Racing Motors’ home, the well-named Heavy Engineering Building, hosts five-axis CNC machining, 3D scanning and plasma cutting, it also houses the famous M.V. Puffer: a two-storey wind tunnel which has proved invaluable by allowing the team to carry out aerodynamic performance testing at real-world flow conditions. All of this, plus the university’s investment in new additive manufacturing equipment, means that the team have plenty of resources at their disposal to test and build their car. The university also enjoys a healthy relationship with Shoreham-by-Sea firm Ricardo UK, whose ongoing engine research provides some inspiration for the team and engineering faculty.
It’s not an understatement to say that the team are excited at the prospect of getting stuck in this year. Brighton Racing Motors first entry was in 2017, while last year was a no-show, team principal Christian Damm is philosophical about it. “Last year we got to the point of registering and we opted to take a fallow year to regroup and absorb lessons learnt from our first Silverstone experience” he explained. “Rather than force ourselves through the competition with a hastily prepared car, we have given ourselves more time to focus on a proper sequel to Apex, our previous car from 2017.”
The team consists of roughly two dozen final-year engineering students, organised into specific areas of the car such as chassis, propulsion system, aerodynamics and so on, together with team leaders helping to coordinate these efforts. Additionally, the team benefit from first- and second-year students keen to get involved in the car who help with other tasks during the build, including manufacturing, will go on to lead the teams themselves, ensuring that the next year’s management team come prepared to take over the reins. Overall team coordination and technical guidance is provided by Senior Lecturer Dr Daniel Coren, and Research Engineer Simon Harvey.
As for their workspace, the team are lucky to have had theirs upgraded for this year. Previously only having a single bay to work on their car, their workspace now extends to a whole laboratory space within the Heavy Engineering Block, complete with a meeting area, prototyping and manufacturing equipment, suspension test rigs, a small yet dedicated CAD lab and plenty of space for parts. Of course, the pride and joy is Apex itself, sporting a sleek black paint job with gold trim that evokes the classic Lotus and more recent Haas F1 designs: evidence of what the university has achieved so far. “We’re lucky that the support that university gives the team” said Christian “, the help and enthusiasm from the faculty is invaluable; Dr. Coren and Simon are always on hand to support and validate our designs, which we review during our weekly meetings. It really makes all the difference as we get our new car from the screen to the track.” Brighton Racing Motors was launched at the University of Brighton by Dr. Coren in 2015, “We saw Formula Student as a way of bringing practice-based learning opportunities to our students, and improved career prospects too, because of the IMechE backing and recognition from industry”.
“This year’s we’re looking to prototype even more parts using 3D printing” explains team leader Christian, for example, our cooling system designer plans to 3D print the intake ducts for the car’s side pods this year. “It’s cheaper and faster to do it this way, plus we save on weight for the car.” Speaking of weight, there’s plenty to shave off Apex, their 2017 entry, which weighed in marginally shy of 300kg. It’s a common story that first entries are often the heaviest, though it does mean that the 50Kg reduction for 2019’s entry should be achievable. Other developments include an innovative design for the suspension, a highly configurable steering system, reduced emphasis on downforce in favour of aerodynamic drag reduction, and greater engine performance out of their Yamaha R6 block...the list goes on. At this stage, the designs are more or less complete and while the car, “Blackjack Special”, is still in the early stages of manufacture, with 13” wheels and temporary engine and seat mounts mocked up, progress on other parts of the car is progressing nicely, with testing at Goodwood planned for May/June time once exams are out of the way to ensure that the car not only works but is reliable.
It’s only when I’m about to leave does Christian reveal his motorsport heritage: it turns out that he ran a Formula Ford team with his fellow students back in Denmark and during his time there worked on sponsorship efforts during his time at the team. Given his background, it’s no surprise that he was so excited to get involved in the Formula Student competition, adding that there’s more opportunities to get into Motorsport in the UK having competed in FS. “There’s nothing else quite like it; having ran a real team already, Formula Student is as near as it gets to be a real-world team and it’s an invaluable opportunity for engineers and any students to get involved with”. No doubt his experience of running a team is an added advantage for Brighton Racing Motors; having a better idea of the challenges involved means that the team are perhaps better equipped to get their car ready.
Keep up to date with the latest developments from the team via social media
Facebook: BrightonRacingMotors
Instagram: BrightonRacingMotors
Twitter: brightonunifs
LinkedIn: brightonracingmotors
and we look forward to seeing the return of the black and gold car this summer at Silverstone - best of luck to the team!