Having formed a new team in March 2019, team Baja NITK Racing was ready to take on the new academic year with renewed gusto. This being the Diamond Jubilee year for NITK, we were determined to give our best, to have more cause for celebration. The team began working on the car early in the summer, gearing up for virtual Baja alongside. 5 of our members attended the Virtual Baja 2019 event at Chtikara University, Punjab. The event consisted of two rounds, an online test based on basics of mechanical and automotive engineering and the Baja SAE rulebook. The team received positive feedback for its presentation, along with a few pointers for improvement. Having performed well at Virtual Baja, team BNR qualified for the main Baja SAE 2020 event to be held at Pithampur.
Fueled by their success at Virtual Baja, team BNR set to work on building a robust car. Working hand in hand with the technical team were the marketing and media team, doing their best to put team BNR on the map.
We hosted the BNR quiz in October 2019, a platform to test the calibre of the promising tech minds of our institution. The enthusiasm was contagious and their brilliance was impressive! More than 80 students from all 4 years were tested on various topics like IC engine, vehicle dynamics problems, aptitude and more. The BNR quiz was a way to establish the fundamental ground in Baja – ‘Knowledge transfer’.
The months following our events in college saw the team working determinedly to build that perfect ATV. Pretty soon, the month of January was upon us and the team embarked on its journey to Pithampur, to take part in Baja SAE India 2020. Here are a few words from one of our members Ayush, on his experience with Baja SAE India 2020: “The Baja event was a surreal experience where we saw months of hard work take life. The team worked around the clock to prepare our ATV at each stage. The event was a mixture of intense pressure and excitement. The team never faltered even in the most intense situations, always calmly assessing the problem and coming up with the best solution. It was insane to watch ATV’s fly off 10 feet cliffs, climb huge rocks and negotiate extremely tight corners all the while trying to set the fastest time. The first time I saw an ATV topple off a cliff and crash, I was terrified, but one look around and I was astonished to find everyone treating it as if it were normal (none of the drivers get hurt. In fact, several of them just keep going even after that!). The passion, the drive and thrill of the experience with the engines always roaring in the background is something I’ll always remember and something I can’t wait for again this year.”
To top off an already exciting year, team BNR had the chance to meet Henna Jayanth, the race driver of India’s first all women F4 team, Team Ahura. She visited us during Incident 2020, our cultural fest, where she was a speaker for ‘Sheroes of India’ at Inci-Talks. Following that, we had a two way knowledge exchange session which ended with her wonderful F4 experiences, pushing us to work hard and dream big.
To top off an already exciting year, team BNR had the chance to meet Henna Jayanth, the race driver of India’s first all women F4 team, Team Ahura. She visited us during Incident 2020, our cultural fest, where she was a speaker for ‘Sheroes of India’ at Inci-Talks. Following that, we had a two way knowledge exchange session which ended with her wonderful F4 experiences, pushing us to work hard and dream big.
Team BNR has already begun working for the next year and hopes to deliver it’s best. We would also like to thank our college and its administration for the constant support.
No matter what life throws at us, we plough past it, just like an ATV does.
Team BNR. Endurance Engineered.
The off-road racing team of NITK comprising of Btech undergraduates who build and race ATVs at the annual SAE BAJA India event.
