Sant Longowal student team prevails in endurance event for Baja SAE India

The student team from Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology from Sangrur, Punjab won the four hour endurance event of the 2014 Baja SAE India near Pitampur, Madhya Pradesh here today.

Overall after considering parameters such as design, engineering, safety and the proficiency of the student built vehicles, SGSITS of Indore were awarded first place overall with pre-event favourites College of Engineering Pune and Vellore Institute of Technology taking second and third places, respectively.

The top three in the overall competition were awarded Rs. 3 lakh, 1.5 lakh and 1 lakh in prize money, respectively.

The 'Junkyard Warriors' team from Sant Longowal finished the event held on the 3.6 kilometer dirt track ahead of the 'GSracers' team from Shri Govindram Institute of Technology and Science after the favourites to win the Baja SAE India - Team Nemesis Racing from the Pune College of Engineering - were forced to make trackside repairs on their vehicles towards the end of the fnal hour of the event.

The Junkyard Warriors team said that they had focused mainly on the reliability of their vehicle, although had worked to reduce the weight of their Baja SAE India entry from last year by 50 kilograms. However, they claimed that their vehicle still tipped the scales at 302 kg.

The Pune College of Engineering team - who have won the Baja SAE India event twice before - said that their approach focused on making the vehicle as light as possible and claimed that it tipped the scales at just over 200 kgs.

The 2014 Baja SAE India competition was the third time the event - which has run since 2007 - has been sponsored by Mahindra.

The automotive major uses the event that pits engineering college students against each other to scout for prospective technical staff as well.

The National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) provides the land outside of Pitampur, which is near the city of Indore, to Mahindra free of cost to hold the event.

Teams competing in the Baja SAE India are required to spend no more than Rs. 4 lakh to construct their competition vehicles and are supplied a 305 cc, 1-cylinder, 10 horsepower, four-stroke engine from Briggs and Stratton, which is standard for all the entrants and not allowed to be modified.