Tyres.co.uk, the UK online tyre retailer, is joining forces with Cardiff Racing to help the Cardiff University students prepare their electric race car for the next Formula Student season.
The partnership will provide financial support towards the team’s tyres, helping with one of the biggest costs involved in running a Formula Student car. Competitors can use several sets of wet and dry tyres during a year of development and racing, making the contribution an important boost to the team’s budget and its ability to concentrate on improving the vehicle.
Formula Student, organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, puts university engineering teams through the process of designing, manufacturing and racing a single-seat car. Success is not measured by speed alone: teams must also demonstrate strong engineering, manage costs and present a convincing business case for their entry.
At Cardiff University, the project gives students from across the School of Engineering the chance to put their skills into practice. They create designs on screen, manufacture components in university workshops and test their work throughout the year, while gaining valuable experience in teamwork, financial planning and working to strict deadlines.
Choosing and using the right tyres is central to getting the best from a race car. Tyres influence how effectively it brakes, how much speed it can carry through corners and how confidently it handles a wet circuit.
Connor Wendt, Deputy Technical Director at Cardiff Racing, said: “Tyres are one of the biggest things we spend money on each season, and they make a massive difference to how the car performs. Having Tyres.co.uk on board takes some of that pressure off and means we can focus on making the car as good as it can be.”
Vithurs, Co-Founder of Tyres.co.uk, said: “Tyres are what we do every day, helping drivers find the right tyres for their car and get them fitted locally. We’re a young business ourselves, so we know what it takes to build something from scratch. Seeing a group of students design and build a race car is genuinely impressive, and supporting the part of the car we know best felt like the natural thing to do. We’ll be following their season closely.”
The team will now focus on completing the car and putting it through its paces ahead of the competition at Silverstone next summer. Cardiff Racing will share news and progress reports on its website and social media channels throughout the season.
