GCU Racing compete in Formula Student 2024
GCU Racing recently spent a week at Silverstone Race Circuit competing in Formula Student, one of Europe’s largest educational engineering competitions.
Over twenty students made the trip to the track with a car the team have been developing since September 2023 to face intense judging from a team of highly regarded engineering professionals.
We caught up with TJ Scott and Robbie McGregor from the team about their time at the competition.
“The team had a very busy competition, we did a great deal of work to provide a car that is definitely substantially better than last year’s however unfortunately we had a few setbacks that were out of our control in the run up to the competition so we couldn’t finish the car before the competition.” TJ explained.
The team were faced with a variety of penalties for presenting an unfinished car, but that did not deter them from doing as much as they could ahead of the competition. The team placed 48th this year and 54th last year, with their major set-back being that the car was not fully complete.
Robbie also added: “We’re incredibly happy with the week that we had and what we can take away from it and how that sets us up for the future as next year we can build up what we have here. We know we don’t need to go back to square one, so we’re at the point now where we can keep going.
Of course we’ll go back and change some things that aren’t working in order to get them fixed and ready for next year but hopefully we can get a car running much earlier and get plenty of testing done. We hope to have it set up so it’s ready to go for the dynamic parts of the competition and hopefully get more set up for the static aspects which is where we can score a lot of points if we can get a finished car to the competition.”
TJ explained that the car they took to this year’s competition was designed and built from scratch, whereas next year the team will be looking to build on what they already have, making changes across the car but not completely starting from the beginning.
He said: “The judges themselves had a great deal of complementary things to say about the car, especially the engineering behind it and they seemed quite content with our power train and chassis design choices.”
“Last year we left Silverstone with maybe 12 people who were competent in the workshop who weren’t before, but now that number has more than doubled after this year’s competition, and they’re all younger students. We’re seeing our team continue to get bigger, and our core team who are competent and confident in the workshop has grown once again which is great for us to carry in to next year, so we’re really excited to see what the team can do next.”
Losing out on vital points due to not having a finished car did not mean that all hope was lost for the team, however, as Formula Student presents one of the best networking opportunities for students and potential employers, with engineering and motorsport companies sending representatives to scout out up and coming talent in the industry.
The team’s 2023 Formula Student experience resulted in TJ scoring his dream job at Mercedes AMG, and this year has been no different, with many team members offered interviews with high level employers in the industry.
TJ explained: “Formula Student is pretty much the greatest opportunity you could have not just as an engineer but as anyone interested in motorsport…this year we’ve had so many students who have gone down and impressed the judges and scouting staff that are down there to be invited to apply for not just motorsport companies but companies such as BAE, Babcock and Bentley. There’s a massive slew of companies who come around the pits to scout students for roles they have available.”
Robbie also said: “This year we’ve once again had students offered interviews at some of the world’s biggest engineering firms, especially within motorsport. Despite us not really having a fully working car or even being high in the overall competition rankings, we’ve still managed to get exposure to companies and get our students approached for those roles. For me, that’s one of the biggest successes of this team.
“We’re a team made up of people who love motorsport and it’s amazing to see some people directly benefit from this by potentially going in to high levels of work that they may not have otherwise had the opportunity to do.”
The team have also been given the opportunity to partner with brands such as the Bugatti Trust, after being invited to attend an event as one of their supported partners with other Formula Student cars in September, an opportunity which arose following their communication with the company at the competition.
The team are only in their first years of competing in Formula Student, which celebrated it’s 26th anniversary this year, so they are looking ahead to what they can do next.
Robbie said: “We’re scaling up again. We’re going to keep building from here. We’ve got plenty team members who can encourage and help others build their confidence. It’s time to get this started again and see what we can do, we’re going to be out shouting about who we are and what we’ve done but in the meantime we’re going to get this car moving under its own power.”
TJ also said: “I am leaving GCU and GCU Racing this year so it’s been amazing to see all of these students that I’ve met over these last few years now step up and take on some more responsibility, growing up and turning into actual capable leaders and project managers.”
TJ is beginning his graduate role at Mercedes this September and has spent his time at GCU rebuilding the GCU Racing team and gearing them up for a future of success at Formula Student and beyond.
You can keep up with GCU Racing via their Instagram and Facebook pages or by visiting their website.
By Derry Wyllie.