Nearing the end of a 22-kilometre endurance race in Varano, Italy last September, the University of Malta racing team’s vehicle started overheating, a bleed screw in the brake calliper came undone, brake fluid began leaking, and the car was forced to withdraw.
Five months later, the team is already preparing for next year’s edition of the international competition (Formula SAE) and the skeleton of a newly-designed vehicle is already taking shape.
This time they have help which comes in the shape of Dr Andrea Toso, head of research and development for Dallara Automobili, the competition sponsors and one of the world’s leading motor racing chassis manufacturers.
The Maltese team caught Dr Toso’s eye in Varano, where, despite the inauspicious end to the endurance event, they achieved a top half finish overall, and Top-10 in certain individual events: a highly commendable showing on a fraction of the budget other teams had at their disposal.
You need courage to step into the outside world and measure yourself against the best of the best
Seeing their potential, Dr Toso offered the team a unique opportunity: an intensive week-long lecture series in vehicle dynamics to prepare them for next year’s competition.
“I was impressed by their enthusiasm, passion, and the desire to make a car compete,” Dr Toso said. “It was clear they had good knowledge of engines, construction and systems, but not much about vehicle dynamics, because there are no classes in Malta. Hopefully, for the new car they’ll have a better understanding and be able to improve.
“I think it helps Malta as well: maybe in the future one of these students will become a professor in the subject.”
The team itself believes this week could have wide-ranging implications, for their own education and for the industry in Malta.
“The automotive industry is very popular, and there are some people who do very well abroad, but not everybody has the engineering knowledge to back it up,” said Leonard Agius, an engineering student.
“So far, there are no courses on this subject, so we had to teach ourselves. It’s not the same thing as having an expert there to lecture you and answer your questions.
Dr Toso said competitions and initiatives such as these are the best way to ensure the future growth of the automotive industry in Malta.
“The students learn from each other, help each other, in a fair way; then when they come back, their enthusiasm is transmitted to the next students, and you see the culture developing at a very fast rate.
“If you just stay on your island, the culture doesn’t develop as fast. You need courage to step into the outside world and measure yourself against the best of the best. But then you come back, you learn and you make everything better: for yourself, for your country, even for the economy.”