Sri Lanka’s DIMO, Uni of Moratuwa unveils formula student race car
Jul 08, 2016 (LBO) - Diesel & Motor Engineering (DIMO), an automobile company together with the engineering students from the Mechanical Engineering Department of University of Moratuwa, unveiled “D-Mora P1,” a car to compete in world’s biggest student motorsport competition.
“The University of Moratuwa is the one of the main hubs of engineering and technical knowledge in the country, and, delivers exceptional individuals in the fields of technical disciplines,” Sasiranga De Silva, the lecturer-in-charge of the project said.
“The project, made successful by the fruitful partnership between DIMO and the undergraduates University of Moratuwa, has paved the way for a group of passionate and talented individuals in the field of mechanical engineering to rise as stars in their professional careers in the future years to come.”
The team from the University of Moratuwa – TeamSHARK - is the first-ever Sri Lankan team entering the Formula Student competition and is fully-sponsored by DIMO.
The D-MORA P1 is powered by a naturally aspirated 600cc 4 cylinder Honda CBR engine, tuned to deliver 70 bhp (restricted), it manages to propel the car weighing of 300 kg (including a 80 kg driver and fuel) from 0 to 100 km/h in minimal time, accelerating to speeds in excess of 140 km/h (limited).
The steel tube space-frame chassis coupled with unequal A-arm suspension at the both front and rear gives the customers an affordable race car solution to hone their skills, before entering the professional level.
The Formula Student 2016 is to be held at the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom from 14th to 17th July 2016.
The competition is expected to feature over 3,000 students, 5,000 attendees, 250 industry professionals and over 130 universities from 30 countries.
Organized by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Formula Student is Europe's most established educational motorsport competition and is backed by the industry and high profile engineers.
The competition challenges university student engineers from around the world to design, build and race a single-seat racing car in one year in order to compete in static and dynamic events, demonstrating their understanding and testing the performance of the race car.
Dozens of Formula Student alumni have progressed to Formula 1, and hundreds more are now working at the world’s largest automotive firms helping to design and engineer the cars of tomorrow.
“This is indeed a proud moment not only for DIMO and the University of Moratuwa but for all Sri Lankans,” Ranjith Pandithage, chairman and managing director DIMO said.
“We wish TeamSHARK and their exciting creation – the D-Mora P1– the very best as they race to the finish line in their attempt to showcase the outstanding engineering talents of Sri Lanka to the world.”