NEGRONI has started to support the activities of the Student Formula SAE JAPAN from 2023.
The project supports the creation of an environment in which students can aim for higher goals and better performance within a limited period of time. Through this project, we hope to produce many talented people who will play an active role in the mobility industry of the future.
As a kick-off event, Negroni sponsored the Fuji Speedway Trial Run on 10 July.
What is Student Formula SAE JAPAN?
It is an educational competition of engineering and technology in which students themselves conceive of a business using small formula-style vehicles, design and build the actual vehicles and demonstrate their driving performance on the track.
A total of 80 universities and vocational schools from Japan and abroad have entered the competition, developing both internal combustion engine and EV formula vehicles, with the aim of developing them for the Student Formula Japan 2023, scheduled to be held from 28 August to 2 September 2023.
Last year, the University of Tokyo Formula Factory (UTFF) asked us if we would like to do something together. We have been searching for ways to provide meaningful support to the students who will be responsible for the future of the automobile industry. Through interviews, we came up with the problem of securing a place to practise, which is an unavoidable part of motorsport competitions.
In order to produce a car in ideal conditions and deliver solid results in the main race, it is necessary to repeatedly experiment, verify and improve the car within a limited period of time. However, it is of course not easy for a team mainly active on campus to create a virtual track layout and prepare a place for test drives in order to experiment with the performance of the car. The financial burden of securing a place with a large space, a suitable surface and a high level of safety is, of course, a huge burden on the students.
Furthermore, the location planned for this year's 2023 joint trial run coincided with the construction period, so there was an urgent need to secure a training and trial run location.
Therefore, Negroni decided to team up with the Kanto Branch of the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan to jointly Organize a joint test-run event at a special course set up in the P7 parking lot of Fuji Speedway. Teams can participate with a variety of challenges in preparation for the actual race, such as fine-tuning the machine, test runs under different conditions and shakedowns.
In order to sharpen the quality of the product, more experiments and verifications need to be repeated. This trial run has a great deal in common with the Negroni brand philosophy, which places great importance on the manufacturing process of products, and we wanted to make sure that this trial run would be a good opportunity to improve the performance of the machines.
The planning and organization of the trial run was led by Yu Suzuki, team leader of the University of Tokyo Formula Factory (UTFF) and leader of FM Kanto, the student automobile research group, with the students taking the lead in designing the course layout, providing officials and guidance on the day.
A total of 130 students from seven schools - the University of Tokyo, NIPPON University College of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Kogakuin University, Kyoto Institute of Technology and Tokyo Metropolitan University (in grid order) - participated in the trial run on the day of the event. All of the strong schools, including last year's winner, have a good chance of winning this year's championship.
On the day of the test run, the teams had to deal with unstable weather conditions typical of this time of year, such as fog and sudden rain, but they had a very productive time, with many teams trying various test runs, using different types of slick and wet tyres. In the morning, many teams experimented with the performance of their vehicles, running the acceleration to measure straight line times and the skidpad to evaluate the body's turning performance.
And the University of Tokyo UTFF, which had the only EV-powered machine on the day, timed the rainfall to successfully complete the shakedown and record shoot. The event also attracted a large number of visitors from non-participating schools.
In the afternoon, the course layout was changed to resemble a real circuit course, and the course was tested with various settings. The top-ranked teams in the competition were particularly impressive, showing their full preparation for the event two months before it is due to start at the end of August.
Although the day was plagued by heavy fog and sudden rain, we were impressed by the students' direct efforts towards their respective goals. Negroni will continue to support this activity in the future as part of its efforts to promote the automotive industry.
The winner of the prize driving shoes was Mr Fujita, leader of last year's winner, Kyoto Institute of Technology.
