When we talk about racing first of all formula one comes to our mind obviously. Let’s reveal a news, Bangladesh is stepping towards Formula A Team is going to represent Bangladesh in the most Prestigious and competitive student event named Formula SAE Japan 2017. And they are going to compete there with their own formula car they are developing in their workshop.
From Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology comes a group of people who are destined to change the automobile sector of Bangladesh. The team name is Team Crack Platoon. The name behind their team is inspired from our prestigious Liberation War history. “Crack platoon” was a group of rebellious young freedom fighters whose job was to design and make “Guerilla attack” plans to topple the Pakistan Army.Many members of the team were captured and martyred but the story behind them never got revealed.
Inspired by patriotism Team Crack Platoon has emerged as to shape new standards in competition and automotive development. We have seen very promising and exciting projects built by students who are competing in the international arena focused on the automotive sector. This team is such a Marvel. They are Bangladesh’s First Formula SAE team, dedicated to participate and win in Student formula competitions around the world. In 2016 the team won the “Best Passionate Team” title of Quad Bike Design Challenge held in India and were the only student formula team from Bangladesh to qualify in 2017 Student Formula Japan and now they have developed even something better and exciting as anyone can think of before. Their very own Formula SAE track car.
Now let’s talk about the Student Formula 2017. We all know about Formula 1 cars and think of the SAE formula as a prototype or scaled version of Formula 1 track car. The Student Formula Japan is an international competition where students compete with their very own designed formula car. The cars are tested and built based on the research of speed, braking, power, balance and handling. And based on those results of how the car competes, the concepts are adapted into the production car by the automotive manufacturer.
Team Crack Platoon have developed their car from a Honda CBR600 engine. Since this engine isn’t the only component of the car and is not available in Bangladesh. The team had to source a lot of other parts and materials from abroad to design and being put together to develop the car as a whole. And importing and buying these parts require a huge budget.
Now let’s come down to the non-technical aspects of the car being developed. To compete the car also has to have a proper business model to get sold. Getting sold doesn’t mean the actual car to be sold but the whole concept of and idea of the car itself needs to fit in a business model. Therefore the team has a very balanced technical and business experts. The whole team is made up of 23 members where 15 are from technical background, and 8 are from business background. And for the first time the car will have a female racing driver.
The car will be fully functional very soon and as the parts are being sourced from abroad, the talented and dedicated team members are building the project piece by piece. A very exciting and proud moment for any car enthusiast and automobile lover. It would be a great honor to see a car from Bangladesh built by students racing in the “Ecopa National park” Racing Arena of Japan in the Student Formula competition 2017. This is will be a big milestone and for promising future endeavors of not only automobile and engineering development but motorsports as well for the country.
Many of us have some have an idea about a racing competition costs. The team is seriously challenged by a huge budget. They are struggling to raise their project funds. They are seeking sponsors for their project. We hope this team will get the proper support from our automotive investors for their project. This support will also bring a change in automotive scenario of Bangladesh encouraging new auto-enthusiasts.
We shall keep everyone updated on the competition and development of the car. Follow Team Crack Platoon page on Facebook, subscribe to their YouTube Channel, visit www.teamcrackplatoon.com and keep an eye on our page for updates on the project.
Co-founder, Editor, photographer and an absolute automaniac!