Racers stay on track in Germany

UQ’s motor racing team finished fifth overall at an international student racing competition in Germany last month.

UQ Racing won the autocross and endurance event and had the best result in the dynamics events against more than 35 international student racing teams from Europe, Australasia and the United States.

UQ was one of four Australian university teams including UNSW, Monash and Deakin that raced around the Hockenheim Grand Prix racetrack for the Formula Student Germany competition.

The Society of Automotive Engineers defines the formula for the competition that requires students to design, build and race their own formula-style race cars.

UQ Racing Business Manager Tania Rautenbach said she was proud of the four person UQ team who competed against university teams from Munich and Stuttgart who had up to 45 helpers.

“We got stuck in third gear during the endurance run,” Ms Rautenbach said.

“The gearbox refused to change and we still had to change drivers as we were only seven laps into the 17-lap event but we still managed to finish almost 22 seconds ahead of all the other teams.”

UQ Racing’s team in Germany was Luke Page, Nicholas Myers, Andre Borrell and Ms Rautenbach.

Their trip was in memory of former team member Tim Allan.

The Australian Formula SAE competitions are designed to expose young engineers to practical experience and teamwork by building and racing their own formula-style car, an open wheeled race car with a 600cc engine.

MEDIA: Ms Rautenbach (0416 746 353, rautenbach02@gmail.com) or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (3365 2619)