At Silverstone this summer, MAN26 delivered the team's best-ever Formula Student result: 12th overall and the third-fastest combustion car in the competition. Team Principal Rob reviews the event and sets out the team's priorities for MAN27.

Formula Student is a global engineering competition in which university students design, manufacture and assemble a formula-style race car, then compete against teams from around the world. Cars are scored in static events, where industry judges assess engineering design, cost and manufacturing, and a business plan presentation, and in four dynamic events: acceleration, skid pad, sprint and endurance.

Results at a glance

• 12th overall, the team's best-ever result

• Third-fastest combustion (IC) car at the event

• 7th in acceleration, one thousandth of a second outside the top-six shootout

• First team to pass scrutineering, clearing every round on the first day

A strong start

The team arrived at Silverstone having not reached the track for several years, but confident in the car. "We knew that we had a strong package," says Rob. "We really wanted to prove ourselves and finally get on the track."

Thursday's static events went well, "and that was reflected in the scores," Rob notes. The car then passed every round of scrutineering, the technical and safety inspection every car must clear before competing, on the first day. Manchester Stinger was the first team in the field to do so, and the car was eligible for the dynamic events for the first time in several years.

Performance on track

After resolving electrical issues during Friday's testing and Saturday's practice, the team completed skid pad, deliberately taking a conservative approach in its first dynamic event. Acceleration followed. On the last run available, MAN26 set the seventh-fastest time, ahead of several of the leading teams, and missed the top six shootout by a thousandth of a second.

"Seeing the smile on all of my teammates' faces was absolutely amazing. I'm very proud of the team."

Lessons from sprint and endurance

Two technical faults kept the team from completing the remaining events. In sprint, a logic fault in the flat-shift system shut the car down. The team diagnosed and corrected it before endurance on Sunday morning. In endurance, around three-quarters of a lap into the event, the rear-left wheel bearing failed.

The team has traced the failure to the bearing's specification for that application and the tolerance of its housing. "We're sure that won't happen again," Rob says.

Missing the two events cost the team around 200 points, which would have placed it considerably higher in the final standings. "Even still, we managed to get our best-ever result," says Rob, "and so we were very, very proud of the overall weekend."

Looking ahead to MAN27

Rob takes over as Team Principal for the new season. With MAN26, the team introduced a new chassis architecture and took "a proper engineering approach to every single component". MAN27 builds on that with three priorities:

• A full aerodynamic package, designed and developed over the year

• A new electric powertrain, the team's move to an EV

• Further optimisation of every mechanical component, engineered from first principles

Reliability sits at the centre of the programme, so that the car can "get on the track and finish endurance". "It's a massive challenge," Rob says, "but it will also reap massive benefits if we manage to get it working and on the track this year."

The longer-term ambition is clear. "We keep our standards high," he says, "because we all want to push towards eventually getting to number one in the UK."

Thank you to our partners

Rob sums up the season in one sentence: "Very proud of the result, but we're all hungry for more."

He closes with a message to the team's supporters: "Thank you to all of our sponsors and, most importantly, the university, for allowing this all to happen. We hope we make you proud."

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