FIA Formula 1 virtual racing is coming to the University of Leicester campus

One of the virtual F1 car models

An afternoon of racing provided by the Virtual Reality Racing Club and UniFi Motorsport comes to campus on 28 May 2019.

Two new high performance car aerodynamic designs will be competing against each other at the University of Leicester on Tuesday 28 May 2019.

The designs from fourth year Engineering students will be presented to a panel including Formula 1 aerodynamic design expert Tim Milne, from UniFi Motorsport Ltd. The creation of the designs has been achieved by using the Bramble design platform from TotalSim Ltd under the supervision of Dr Aldo Rona, Associate Professor of Fluid Dynamics and Turbomachinery in the University’s Department of Engineering.

Nominated drivers from the two associated teams, Apex and Mansell, will then compete against each other using the SimRace Pro Virtual Reality simulator.

Once the official race is over, then the team’s design performance score and virtual race scores will be combined to award the team winner of the UniFi Motorsport 2019 championship.

The two teams, Apex and Mansell, have competed against teams in Australia and mainland Europe in designing best performing aerodynamic bodyworks aimed at beating the lap speed record of the Circuit of the Americas, for the driverless competition Roborace.

The judging of designs is open to the public. Please come to 408 Woodhouse, Charles Wilson Fourth Floor, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH from 10.00am to 12.00pm on 28 May.

The virtual reality race is taking place at Centenary Square (close to the University of Leicester David Wilson library, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH) in the afternoon.

The virtual reality race has a very limited number of places open to the public, and a first-come first-served sign-in sheet will be available next to the simulator for interested parties to test their driver’s skills, should there be any spare time after the official race.

May the best team win!