The 2024 edition of Formula Bharat held from January 19 to 24 has come to an end. Formula Bharat is the only Formula Student race in South Asia that is recognised in the Formula Student World Rankings. This year’s event was held at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore, featuring 26 combustion-engine teams and 31 electric teams competing in their respective classes. Competitors hailed from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal and were tasked with building a Formula racing car from the ground up within the prescribed competition regulations.
Judging their efforts was a jury of representatives from the motorsport, automotive, and supplier industries based on parameters like engineering design, overall cost, marketability, and performance. Formula Bharat 2024 was held with the goal of giving student engineers a chance to prove their skills in real life instead of on a sheet of paper. Given the practical nature of the event, it was also a platform for recruitment drives with presentations from sponsors aimed at identifying talent. The event was also thrown open to the public through guided tours and a Red Bull F1 car on display.
The winners were announced in an awards ceremony on the final day. The combustion-engine class was won by the Vishwaracers of the Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology. In second was Team Maverick of PVG’s College of Engineering and Technology & G.K. Pate (Wani) Institute of Management with Team Fateh of the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology in third.
The EV class was won by IIT Bombay Racing from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, with Raftar Formula Racing Electric from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in second followed by Team Kratos Racing Electric from the Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering in third.
The 2024 Formula Bharat race gave Indian motorsport aspirants an experience faithful to the real thing. India has seen a rise in the popularity of motorsport with various international franchises making their way to the country. Who knows? Formula Bharat may have just given us our next great racing talent, and we’re excited to see what the future holds.