ISLAMABAD – It’s always great to see women making more active participationin motorsport, and it’s always overwhelming when it comes to women actuallybuilding the car itself. That is the case with the Pakistani student teamthat has build a single-seater race car. The all-girls student team fromthe National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Islamabad, havebuilt the single-seater Formula car for the Student Formula Competitionthat witnesses student teams from across the globe in contention. This isfor the first time an all-girls team has built the race car in the countryand are competing for the first time on an international level. This is thesame competition that the IIT Bombay Racing Team is also participating in,this weekend (July 13-15, 2018).
The Student Formula competition is a platform that allows candidates fromdifferent universities to build and compete single-seater race cars. Thecompetition is held at the Silverstone circuit in the UK and will see theteams put their respective race cars through a number of evaluationsincluding the car’s fuel economy, endurance, acceleration, design dynamicsand more.
The Pakistani student team comprising 15 girls is called ‘Team Auj’ andbuilt the car without any mechanical engineer in the ensemble. The currentmembers are from different disciplines including electrical engineers,industrial designers and members from business management. Apart from theteam attracting a number of sponsors, the team was also funded by thePakistani Prime Minister’s office, as the team was lacking financial funds.
While details on the car’s technical aren’t available, the team holds aspecial place in the competition as the second all-female team and thefirst to visit the UK competition. Additionally, Team Auj won the ‘Spiritof FS’ award at the competition this year and also received a standingovation for their participation.
Its always commendable to see women do well in motorsport and increasedparticipation is always a welcome. The all-girls team serve as aninspiration not only to girls in Pakistan but world over, who aspire tomake a career or compete in motorsport. More power to you.