MUR Motorsports Newsletter - July 2015
Hello and welcome to our brand new website! We apologise for the delay in getting the first newsletter of the year out to you all, but we wanted to wait until we could publish it on the new site!
Recent months have been extremely busy for everyone involved with MUR Motorsports as our design process has drawn to a close and manufacturing has begun in earnest.
Recent Events
2015 Victorian Hillclimb Championship
On 24 May MUR took the 2014 car to DECA, Shepparton for the final round of the Victorian Hillclimb Championship. The competition provided a valuable opportunity for the team to practice car preparation and run procedures in preparation for December's Australasian Formula SAE Competition.
With stunning performances, Dave McGahey & Jamie Pilling took first and second in the non-logbook class! A big congratulations to Dave and Jamie, as well as the rest of the team who went out to support them.
2015 Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix
MUR was lucky enough to be able to display at the Formula One Grand Prix in the Industry and Innovation Precinct.
The 2014 MUR car was setup for the entirety of the Grand Prix, alongside other organisations and Formula SAE teams including Monash Motorsport and RMIT Racing. It was a great opportunity to put ourselves out there to the general public, as well as meet lots of future students. MUR had a great time and hope to be on display again in the years to come!
MUR Seminar Series
Throughout 2015, the MUR seminar series has been introduced! Starting with an information session in March, MUR has run fortnightly sessions, giving students a behind the scenes look into MUR and the individual subteams. Seminars have so far been presented by the Aerodynamics, Engine and Brakes & Drivetrain teams, and we look forward to hosting more sessions in the coming semester!
Manufacturing Update
Chassis manufacture has been taking place over the past few weeks, with the process currently on schedule for an early September shakedown. Team members have been rotating welding duties, burning the midnight oil to try and get everything completed on time.
The chassis build wouldn't be possible without the support of a number of our valuable corporate partners, all of whom have assisted us over a number of years. These include:
- Surdex Steel - provided the steel required to construct the chassis
- ARB - laser cut steel sheets to enable the team to assemble the elaborate chassis jig in preparation for the welding process
- Laser 3D - provided the team with professional laser tube profiling
The team would like to once again thank all of our partners for their support
Sponsor Update
The team have been delighted so far this year to renew a number of existing sponsorship arrangements and welcome a number of new corporate partners to the University of Melbourne's Formula SAE Program
Powerplus Racing Fuel
MUR would like to welcome new sponsor Powerplus Racing Fuels! With their generous support we have enough high quality E85 race fuel to drive all the way through testing and into the 2015 Formula SAE competition. We're very excited to have entered into this new relationship, and look forward to working alongside Powerplus in the years to come!
Boeing Australia
The team is very excited to announce an agreement with Boeing Australia for this year covering the use of their carbon fibre production facilities and the provision of carbon fibre to the team. A number of students have already met with Boeing engineers at their Port Melbourne facility and are gratefully absorbing their professional expertise. The partnership presents an amazing opportunity for MUR Motorsports in terms of what we can achieve with this year's car and in the years to come.
Keizer Wheels & Hoosier Tyres
With the team making the decision to decrease rim size this year, much thought was given to who would supply the new wheel and tyre sets to the team. We were pleased to be able to secure aluminium wheels from Keizer and four sets of tyres from Hoosier and thank them for their support.
Interlloy
The team has arranged a new partnership agreement with Interlloy, one of Australia's largest providers of metals. We have been able to source a large amount of high grade Aluminium from them and look forward to expanding our agreement in years to come
Track Testing
Track testing has been productive so far this year, with the team using the 2014 car for concept validation and driver training whilst the 2015 model is designed and built. Track days are invaluable to MUR in terms of data collection and design validation whilst also fostering some friendly competition, with MUR spending track time alongside our rivals Monash Motorsport. Thanks to DECA, Foresite Training & Oakleigh Go Kart Racing Club for allowing us to make use of their facilities!