Welcome

Welcome to the home of Academy Racing. The 2010 season was a great year for us with the team coming back with numerous personal bests. The team has big plans for 2011 with the team going to the UK in July to complete in Formula Student. At the same time work will begin on a new car. Check out the latest newsletter within the newsletter section or maybe look at Academy Racing in action within the media section. We hope that you check the website regularly to follow the process of the 2011 Academy Racing team.

Our Sponsors for 2011. Thankyou, for without your support our project would not be possible.

Click on a sponsor image for more details

News & Announcements

Driver testing

Submitted by OFFCDT Daniel O'Brien 20 October 2011

Academy Racing held a driver testing session on 21 October 2011 in order to assist in deciding on who the future drivers will be in the team, for both the competition this year and for the next two years.

The driving began promptly at 12 with an intro to the course and an inspection of the car, including a warm up and demonstration by the team captain, Alistair Weir. Drivers took turns to each go through the assessment process which included having to complete an emergency egress in under 5 seconds and come to a skidding halt. Once completed the driver then drove in a figure 8 pattern and showed off what they were made of - all of which was completed in time for the next driver to begin every half hour. Aside from the drivers stalling the car and a few minor issues with the car still to be ironed out, the car worked well over the day without too many faults.

Formula Student UK Trip

Submitted by OFFCDT Brodie Kilkenny 05 August 2011

After 3 weeks in the UK, the Academy Racing team is now back in Australia gearing up for the new university semester, the FSAE competition in Melbourne in December and starting production of next year's car, WS12. However, it's also now time to reflect on the past few weeks. The team arrived at 30th Signal Regiment in Bramcote, Warwickshire on Saturday, 2nd July; the team's host for the proceeding two weeks with the car arriving on the Monday. Those two weeks were to be very busy for the team as they gave a the car a thorough check over after the flight, followed by testing and tuning as well as some practice for the drivers, PLTOFF Paul Gardner, OFFCDT Piotr Gluchowski, OCDT Ben Bonnell and the team captain, PLTOFF Alistair Weir. This period of testing proved to be very beneficial as the team ironed out the few remaining bugs in the car, giving them a solid starting point for the competition at the famous Silverstone raceway.

However, the team couldn't fill in all the spare time at Bramcote working on the car so they were lucky enough to organise some tours of Cranfield University's precision engineering lab, composites lab, crash test facility and the Lucky Strike Formula 1 car. An exciting day for the team and after seeing that they were using the same processes that Academy Racing have been using for developing F1 parts, it was unanimously voted that the teams workshop is in fact, an F1 development facility.

The team also had the chance to walk around the Silverstone pits as the F1 teams were preparing for the Grand Prix, a tour Prodrive, World Rally Team and Minardi Formula 1 team workshop where they met the Australian owner Paul Stoddart. As PLTOFF Gardner's 21st birthday was only a few days away, he was lucky enough to ride in one of the F1's with Paul Stoddart at the wheel - an exciting experience for everyone.

As the competition began, the car was looking very solid but as it is with racing, the weather played havoc with the Australian team throughout the weekend. Regardless, out of 100 different teams from around the world, Academy Racing placed 6th in design, a huge achievement for the team as we were in the company of some very highly regarded teams and placing in the top 20 for skid pad and sprint (equivalent to the Australian competition's autocross). Despite the car not finishing the endurance event due to an engine failure, the team still placed in the top 3rd of the competition - overall an excellent result for the team's first overseas competition.

The team also made a good impression and turned a lot of heads with the car's beam axle suspension, unique to the FSUK 2011 competition as well as learning a great deal both from the other teams, and the judges. The team now plans to take what they have learnt from this competition and use it in Melbourne, putting themselves in a very competitive position for the competition as well as further developing WS12.

A huge thanks goes out to our sponsors and supporters as without them, the trip would not have been possible.

Update from the UK

Submitted by OCDT Jacob Marshall 20 July 2011

While majority of the team have been on a break, or on military commitments, some members of the team have been in the UK attending Formula Student. The news coming back to Australia is overwhelmingly positive, with the team successfully competing in the event as well as enjoying some time to themselves for sight seeing.

The team sent back a link with some photos of them, which is located at: Academy Racing in the UK

We will provide all the details regarding results and more in depth description of the visit once the team returns.

Academy Racing in the News!

Submitted by OCDT Jacob Marshall 21 June 2011

Following Army news publishing a story on the team earlier this year, members of the specific media companies were invited to our recent Sponsor Drive day. In attendance was a representative from Defence News and two from the Canberra Times; all 3 took photos and produced stories for their papers.

The stories can be found here:

• Canberra Times
• Navy News, page 32
• Army News, page 38
• Air Force News, page 32

We are very happy with the stories published by each of the papers and we hope to continue the relationship with the media into the future, providing both information to the public and publicity for our sponsors.

Blackwoods Tools Pickup

Submitted by Mr Lorin Coutts-Smith 27 May 2011

A small group of Academy Racing members travelled to Blackwoods in Fyshwick on Friday, 27th of May in order to pickup our sponsorship package of tools. The team was very excited about this sponsorship as we were in need of new tools.

Blackwoods is only a very recent sponsor, yet they have shown great enthusiasm already in their sponsorship. They have provided the team with the $5000 worth of tools as well as a significant discount on future purchases, for which Academy Racing is very grateful and is sure to take advantage of this.

Check out the Blackwoods website at: Blackwoods.

We are very appreciative of all our sponsors and we are always looking for ways to return the value you provide to us. Any pottential sponsors can contact us by checking the "Contact Us" page.

Sponsor Drive Day

Submitted by OCDT Jacob Marshall 27 May 2011

Academy Racing held its first Sponsor and VIP drive day on Saturday, 21st of May 2011 at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA). This event was attended by a number of sponsors and military supporters, who had the oppertunity to drive the car around a custom built course.

The main objective of the day was to familiarise our sponsors and Defence on our team, what we do and what we aim to achieve. The team also used the day to conduct further testing of the vehicle in the lead up to going to the UK.

The sponsor drive day was attended by a number of members of the media, including representatives of the Canberra Times, Contact magazine and Defence News. News sotries about the team will be published in all these medias and we intend to continue our relationship with them into the future.

In conclusion, we believe the day was a great success and we are intending on having another later in the year where we hope more sponsors will attend.

Name Change

Submitted by OCDT Jacob Marshall 26 May 2011

Due to the release of a recent Defence Instructon, restricting the use of Defence and its units in names of private activities, FSAE@ADFA has had to change its name from "ADFA Racing" to "Academy Racing". The team name did not come at a good time for the team, when we were in the final stages of ordering team apparel and a marque; however, we have put these on hold for the time being to ensure that we successfully get the team to the UK, as that is our first priority.

The new name was discussed in depth and the decision "Academy Racing" was overwhlemingly the most desired choice. We beleive it still links us the ADFA, but does not directly link us. It is a reminder that the team is a university based project and that we are only affiliated with Defence by the team members and the location of the team.

Australian Grand Prix

Submitted by OCDT Jacob Marshall 06 April 2011

The 2011 ADFA Racing team attended the Formula One Qantas Australian Grand Prix (AGP) from the 23rd to the 28th of March 2011. The team took the car to the AGP and conducted a static display with our 2007 car WS04. The team would like to thank Defence Force Recruiting for allowing us space in their area for our team.

The main objective of our presence at the AGP was to acknowledge our sponsors and generate more public knowledge and interest regarding FSAE and Defence. The team achieved this goal my engaging in many conversations withindividuals that were interested, particularly in FSAE.

The team enjoyed the week at the AGP and there were many chances to view the motorsport events and other attractions. In conclusion, the 2011 ADFA Racing team viewed the week as very productive and will continue to attend the AGP in the future.

Check out our AGP photos at in the gallery: AGP 2011

Avalon review

Submitted by OCDT Matthew Rosenthal 11 March 2011

The 2011 ADFA Racing team attended the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace and Defence Exposition from the 1st to the 6th of March 2011. The team took the car to the defence exposition and we were able to conduct a static display with our 2010 car WS10. The team would like to thank the Defence Material Organisation (DMO) for allowing us space on their display for our team.

The main objective of our presence at the exposition and airshow was to acknowledge our sponsors support for the team from 2010. The team achieved this goal through individually thanking most of our sponsors that were present at the exposition. We are proud to announce that all of our sponsors in 2010 will continue to provide strong support for the ADFA Racing team in 2011. The team felt from our extensive exposure of our racing team we achieved strong interest from other defence industry partners to provide support to the team in future years.

With the ADFA Racing team going to Formula Student in the UK this year we were extremely pleased to welcome QANTAS Defence Service's sponsorship support for 2011 where they will assist the team with the freight of our car and resources to the UK in order for the team to compete in an international competition which is a first for the ADFA Racing Team.

The team stayed for the weekend to view the many amazing airshow displays from many military aircraft from a number of different countries all over the world. The team newsletter will be published in the next week with a variety of pictures taken from the week at the Avalon International Airshow and Defence Exposition. In conclusion, the 2011 ADFA Racing team viewed the week as very productive and look forward to working with our new team including the first years at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Check out our Avalon photos at in the gallery: Avalon 2011

Army News article

Submitted by OCDT Jacob Marshall 25 February 2011

Recently the Army newspaper ran an article on the ADFA Racing team providing its readers with information on the team, the team's sponsors and the teams results from 2010. It also included information regarding the future of the team.

Be sure to check out the full article here: http://digital.realviewtechnologies.com/?xml=defencenews_army.xml&iid=44943

The article is on page 33 of the edition.

ADFA Racing is going to continue to provide articles to the service newspapers and other media.

ADFA Racing Team 2011

Submitted by OCDT Jacob Marshall 19 February 2011

The 2011 academic year is almost upon us and the ADFA Racing team is revving up for another big year with many events planned.

After our results in 2010 the team is now confident that we can continue to develop cars that will win. This year will have the team involved in some big events here in Australia but also at Formula Student UK which the team is especially looking forward to.

Be sure to check back here periodically for updates on how the team is planning for this year and our progress.