Odisha students aiming to zoom their way to Formula Race glory

Berhampur: It will be like a dream come true for students of Parala Maharaja Engineering College in Berhampur if their meticulously designed racing car can zoom past the chequered flag in the upcoming SAE India's SUPRA student formula race, country’s biggest car racing event in the Engineering institute-level.

The student team from Odisha will have to battle out against fierce competition from other teams of as many as 127 engineering institutes from across the country.

The newly designed car made by the team will participate in the racing competition scheduled to take place at the famous Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida from July 15 to July 20.

According to sources, as many as 33 students of three departments-Production, Automobile and Mechanical of the engineering institute formed a team to design the formula racing car after nearly a year of dedicated hard work.

Designers of the racing car are confident that their vehicle will be able match the ferocity of the other participating cars in the five-day racing extravaganza.

What is most interesting fact about this car are the raw materials used in its manufacture. With a total expenditure of around 5 lakhs, the car features several equipments sourced from top powerful vehicles like engine of KTM bike, radiator of Maruti 800, college workshop-designed chasis, car’s carbon fibre body, and shock-absorber spring.

Asked about their prospects of winning the race, constructor team’s captain S Uma Shankar said, “With an aim to do something unique apart from our core engineering studies we decided to take part in the racing competition by using our very own-designed car because it for us it was a befitting tribute to practical application of our theoretical studies.”

But the journey was never easy for these students who did not have any financial backing to make the project successful.

A student of Mechanical department, Saurav Sarkar said, “It was a huge challenge for us to manage both the class and contribute extra hours to build the car.”