The 2023 Formula SAE – Australasia competition has been run and won as hundreds of university students from around the region put their self-made Formula-style open-wheeled racing car to the ultimate test.
 
Formula SAE is a world-wide program that sees students design, build and compete in a motorkhana-style event for their universities in a variety of categories. 
 
Focusing on a variety of elements that are required for racing teams when developing a car, students get experience in engineering, management, leadership, teamwork, marketing and finance – all of which can prepare them for a career in motorsport.
 
This year’s Australasian competition took place at Calder Park Raceway where 34 teams from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, Indonesia, India battled it out over three days. 
 
There were three categories making up the event, with 23 Electric Vehicles and five Combustion engine teams entered, while six teams were entered in the non-competitive Autonomous vehicle class.
 
Across the three days of competition, teams completed a number of presentations, where they were scored on their business presentation, cost and engineering design before their car underwent a number of tests. 
 
For the driving component, each team was judged on their car’s acceleration, efficiency and endurance in Skid Pan and Autocross tests. 
 
Australian teams were some of the best performers across the event, with Western Australia’s Edith Cowan University winning the Internal Combustion competition, while the University of NSW and the University of Queensland finished the Electric Vehicles competition in second and third respectively, falling just short of New Zealand’s University of Canterbury.
 
A number of other awards were handed out across the day, with the Motorsport Australia Award going to the University of Technology Sydney after overcoming a number of significant issues, and maintaining great team spirit throughout their challenges.
 
View full results here.