Inspired Karters Baja, BITS Pilani’s off-road ATV racing team, returned from the Enduro Student India competition having secured an overall rank 39 among 83 participants from colleges across the nation. The team also secured 17th and 19th rank in the cost and design events respectively.

This year’s car had been much improved upon since the previous edition. The team designed and used a new suspension geometry, gearbox, and braking system. Custom brake rotors, and a new steering system engineered by the team exemplify how the team focused on customisability and system integration this year.

The team captain, Asad Hussain, was of the opinion this year’s disappointment at the event site was because their vehicle was not sufficiently tested. “We didn’t have time. We should have tested the vehicle enough to understand how different parts of the car would have behaved under event conditions.”, he lamented.

When asked about the advantages the other teams had over BITS Pilani, he described three major advantages for other colleges. First, proper funding from the institute was available to all the other teams. On the other hand, Inspired Karters Baja was completely student managed with funds primarily from sponsorships, crowdfunding campaigns, and money pooled in by the team members themselves.

The second advantage that other teams had was the accessibility to spare parts. Going ahead, he said “Not even graded bolts are available to us in Pilani. We had to go to Jaipur or Delhi to get our parts. This puts us behind financially and takes a lot of time as well.”

The PS system, because of which team members are scattered across the country at various stations, also contributes significantly to the delay. “Time is very critical when you are working on such a big project. Other teams get these additional two months to work on their vehicle.”, said Asad.

The captain aspires to see IK-Baja achieve a good rank in Enduro Student India to prove the calibre of the team. “Once we achieve a rank below 10, Baja SAE will not be a distant dream. Apart from goals for the team, I want to see technology get into ATVs. I expect to see Baja turn into a project than a competition and pioneer self-driving ATVs. I just want them to go beyond the competition and innovate.”