7th Edition of the Maruti Suzuki SUPRA SAEINDIA

Maruti Supra SAEINDIA is a unique and cool opportunity for young students from engineering colleges in India. This event took place from 11th to 16th of June at the Buddh International circuit. Let me be clear from the start that this is not a competitive race. It’s a competitive endurance run. SAE India SUPRA was first introduced in 2011 aiming to provide students, an innovative, hands-on and out-of-classroom education with a platform to prove their capability in designing a formula prototype car. In this inter-college formula car event students conceive, design and fabricate the prototype based on predefined rules and design standards of SAE International.

A total of 3000 students from 112 teams were present for the event held over the 6 day format. In a closely fought competition and a rigorous evaluation, 27 of the 112 teams could reach the endurance run on the final day. Veteran automobile experts and technical inspectors from Germany shortlisted the 27 teams on parameters like safety, robustness, design, performance, and marketability at Buddha International Circuit, Greater Noida. Among the 100 judges was also the ace race car driver, Sneha Sharma.

The teams had their cars tested in two stages which were the ‘Static Tests’ and the ‘Dynamic Tests’. The ‘Static Test’ includes – driver ingress, weight test, tilt test, noise test and the very important brake test. As for the ‘Dynamic Test’ – acceleration, skid pad test, autocross test and the endurance test.  

Another worth mentioning fact about the rules is that – engine restrictions. The cap on all engines was 600cc for this event, with teams using different setups like a KTM 390 engine with very less aerodynamic aids to the pushing the rule book with Royal Enfield’s 500cc thumper motors.

The final day was packed with excitement as students got ready to test their creations on the main track. Some cars were facing issues with the previous day’s autocross event that must have torture tested the car. I was very eager to see these cars and how well they would perform. While interacting with college students from Pune I was amazed to see the different innovations that they had incorporated in their cars. Some of the innovations were a servo controlled wing which was inspired by the DRS system of Formula One cars. Then there was the centreless or hubless wheel which according to the students/racecar drivers gave them a better way of integrating a custom brake caliper and tweak the shock absorbers and suspension better. Also even though this whole event was purely done to see how the students excel at making a car and doing an endurance run with lap times, not a priority, I did see the competitive side of the kids with some from the Gujrat Technical Institute who were discussing with me the track temperature, their tyre temperature and the Hoosier slicks they were going to use over others who were not using any kind of racing compound. 

Overall it with its 7th iteration, the Maruti Suzuki SUPRA SAEINDIA as a platform still encourages students from engineering colleges to conceptualize, fabricate and run a Formula prototype car. The event is one of the most awaited events every year for engineering students who share the passion of racing as it lets them come forth and showcase their talent. It’s a one of a kind platform in India. This year defending champions, Team 73 Kratos Racing won the overall event. GTU Motorsports secured second place & Veloce Racing came 3rd