ECOKART SERIES 2017 is India’s first ever pure Electric kart racing championship held at BML MUNJAL UNIVERSITY on 28 February to 3 March, 2017 at Haryana. The journey of the event began with the virtual round where teams must submit their design report which includes analysis, simulation, cad models and calculations of the proposed vehicle. It was an eliminator round wherein only 54 teams qualified for the dynamic event. After submissions, scores were declared wherein Team Matadors achieved 15rd rank amongst 104 teams from colleges across the nation.
The entire kart was fabricated in the college workshop and the video of Online Technical Inspection was submitted on Youtube. A hand of support was sought from the faculty members by arranging an inauguration ceremony. Dr. Kaushal Prasad (Hon. Principal) inaugurated the kart in the presence of Dr. M S Kirkire (HoD, Mechanical Engg), Prof. S H Mhabadi (HoD, Electrical Engg) and Prof. G G Bhide (HoD, Electronics Engg) along with faculty members from these departments.
Day 0 of the event, team arrived at the venue and completed the registration and documentation work.
Day 1 of the event. Kart no. 34 Team MATADORS cleared its Technical Inspection round in its very first attempt. Following T.I. the driver Amey Joshi successfully cleared the Acceleration test and the eliminator Brake test in the very first attempt. And then MATACAR was officially on the tracks of Eco kart series 2017 season 4.
On Day 2, the event started with ‘FACE-OFF’ Round which was a Manoeuvrability test for the driver skills and handling abilities of the kart. The driver has to pick flags placed on a zigzag path while competing with another kart. The winning team would further compete with other winning teams and so on. Our kart won 3 rounds out of 5 but could not proceed further due to some technical issues.
On same day, ‘PARK IT UP’ round which was parking the kart through hurdles where the driver was blindfolded and another team member guided him to park the kart in 1 minute. Unfortunately, we could not finish this round in the given time.
Day 3, started with the signature round of Eco kart Series 2017 that is ‘Turn Table’ round in which the kart has to pass through complex track comprising of steep turns and narrow track. The round had 10 check points which had to be covered in 7 minutes. Penalties were deducted from the total score. Our driver Amey Joshi,with his best skills, managed to complete six check points without a single penalty.
On same day, the innovation round was held where the innovations in the kart where tested and judged on its efficiency and need. Team Matadors were awarded second highest score in this round by sheer hard work of our electrical and electronics department.
The last and the most awaited round was the ‘Podium Finish’ that is the Endurance where all the karts competed to achieve glory by being the top karts of the nation. Our Endurance specialist driver Bhushan Kale, was heading the slot race but after the dash by another kart our driver skillfully controlled the kart and still completed the race with a good score. At the end of the day what matters is a cumulative score which sums the efforts put in by the teams.
With these efforts Matadors stood 13th out of 104 teams participating across the nation. It’s now time to rise again with further modifications as life is all about the second chance.
The TEAM MATADORS
1)Bhushan Kale (Captain)
2) Prathameshkumbhar (Vice Captain)
3) ShubhamChaudhari
4) Sushant Dabhilkar
5) BittuJha
6) Amey Joshi
7) AniketAayre
8) AnirudhaGurav
9) SanketGawade
10) Nitin Patil
11) SahilNevalkar
12) PrathmeshKoyande
13) Prashant Mestri
14) PrithvirajThorat
15) KhurshidAlam Qureshi
