Shizuoka (5/9/2015) – After passing a series of inspection stages including Vehicle Examination dan Static Event in 2015 Student Formula Japan, Garuda UNY again amazed their spectators by completing race endurance test in Ecopa stadium on last Friday evening. It is a proud for Indonesia because the team has finished 20 kilometers race endurance lap swiftly despite the fact that it is their first time joining Formula SAE.

This is quite uncommon. Claude Rouelle, a Formula SAE expert, pointed out that for the first-timer team, the possibility for passing race endurance test in Formula SAE is only 1—2%. He affirmed, "This is the best FSAE first year team and car I ever have seen".

The endurance test ran quite dramatically because there was a declining performance in the climax. But before Marshall team approached Garuda UNY F15, the UNY team gained a stable condition and succeeded to reach the finish line. In this endurance test, two racers of GARUDA UNY, Hasbi Brilian Kumara and Rony Suprapto alternately drove GARUDA UNY F15. This strategy was chosen to arrive at the most optimum combination by joining the skills of both races and adapting it to the characters of the car.

Roni revealed his experience during the race endurance stage. “From the very start, my duty is to stabilize the car for maintaining the fuel efficiency. Of the 10 laps I need to go, I drove the car for 11 laps.  But that’s not a problem. Because of overlap, I left Marshall far behind until I could not see it. In this race, I did not apply the brake at all, just working with the clutch.

Meanwhile, Hasbi demonstrated his feeling “Driving this car is the most fascinating than the others. I got trouble in controlling the car because the front tyre was wobbling. I felt very anxious as the car was about to come to a screeching halt.  Then, in less than 25 meters before finish line, the machine suddenly stopped. I could only say a prayer. Alhamdulillah, the machine was on again and the car could reach the finish. This was undeniably a miracle, there were God’s hands.  

The Rector of YSU, Prof. Dr. Rochmat Wahab, M.Pd., M.A. who came to the competition was not losing hope and keep praying for giving strength to YSU team. He also showed his stressful feeling when watching the race. “The situation was thrilling that I could not say any word. From this competition, we learnt to be patient and refrain. The keys for success today are the racer and the advisor”.

The 2015 Student Formula Japan continued on 2015 Student Formula Japan with the same test for senior teams (Group A), such as the team from Graz University of Technology and Nagoya University. (dnh)