News Archive

A team of students from The University of Western Australia is aiming to celebrate UWA's 2013 Centenary year in a bright yellow racing car.

Every year, UWA students create a new Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) vehicle from scratch and final-year Engineering student Tom Lapsley, who has been involved in UWA Motorsport since 2010, said they are hoping for a strong performance at the Australasian championships in Melbourne in December.

One of the most recent of the University's Formula SAE vehicles will be on display at an exhibition at the Barbagallo Raceway where it will compete against the best teams in the country.  The exhibition is organised by Edith Cowan University.

The vehicle, which came second in the 2011 Australasian competition, is one of several UWA-built cars on show.  Some of the students involved in UWA's Formula SAE project, which is hosted by the University's Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, will be at the raceway to talk about the project.

UWA's most successful Formula SAE vehicle was the 2007 model, which was crowned world champion in Michigan in the United States after beating more than 100 teams from around the world.

Mr Lapsley said while most students in UWA Motorsport, were from Engineering, students from any discipline were welcome to take part.  An Arts student steered the 2011 model to second place in the 2011 event.

"Students run the entire project, from coming up with the design to taking control of the finances and marketing," Mr Lapsley said.

"Our vehicles are tested in an international arena over four different events: acceleration, figure-of-eight, autocross and endurance.  The top speed is 150kph, which suits the tight track, but we've been able to get from zero to 100 kph in 3.2 seconds, which is a great achievement for a group of students."

The Society of Automotive Engineers' Formula SAE demonstration at the Barbagallo Raceway in Neerabup is from 9am to 5pm on Thursday 14 February.

Media references

Tom Lapsley (UWA Motorsport, Sponsor Relations)  (+61 4) 24 257 955
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783