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Ready, steady, go!
74 out of 117 teams have been through their technical inspection as of 11:30 this morning, with 40 teams passed and ready to take to the roads around the Sepang International Circuit. Others are still making last-minute adjustments to get past that final hurdle and start their test laps.
New and improved
Lots of teams are attending for their second or third year and have put their experience from past events to good use.
NP Distanza-UC (team 713) from Singapore, for example, are hoping to win in their category, UrbanConcept electric, for the third year in a row, says team member Ambrose Raphael Chuan. Made of honeycomb carbon fibre monocoque, their car weighs just 70kg. “We took our cues from the teams in the European event and have made our engine even better,” says Ambrose. “Fingers crossed!”
Team PLM Alpha 1 with the Batmobile inspired prototype car
Team Revanta (501) from India are here for the second time and have also modified their car based on last year’s event experience. “Our design is in the transmission,” they told us. “We have modified a 100cc motorbike engine to run the car; it’s very fuel-efficient.”
Last but not least, PLM Alpha 1 (team 24) from Brunei Darussalam have a car that looks strangely like the batmobile. The team told us that they love their design (so do we), which doesn’t just look cool, but is also very aerodynamic. It’s their second year of competing and they have overhauled both their engine and gears to improve their performance on track.
“We want to beat our record from last year,” says team lead Lester Ong Kai Xiang. “We’d also like to win in our category, and for our car to become a recognised brand. But we can start with beating last year’s record…”
We wish them all the best!
Beginner’s luck
Not every team has the benefit of using last’s year’s experience though. Newcomers from the Philippines, Team Lahutay (63), are attending for the very first time and have found everything ‘very challenging’. When asked why they had chosen their box-like car design, Professor Carcasona laughed and said: “We had a beautiful, rounded shape in mind, but we ran out of time and had to go with something simple. This is an accident, not a design!”
Despite the challenges, the team is set to pass their technical inspection and have very much enjoyed attending and participating in the event. They say they will definitely be back next year with more experience – and a more sophisticated body design too!
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