Two Loughborough University students are to compete in the Formula Student Diesel Eco Driving Challenge powered by Bosch on 18-21 June.

Jamie Shone and Andrew Wells will compete against other students from England, Scotland and Wales in a non-stop driving challenge across the length of Britain in a bid to be crowned the nation’s most economical drivers.

The inaugural three-day competition, which starts on June 18, will go via 46 universities and is being jointly run by Formula Student and Bosch.

Jamie, a Systems Engineering student and Andrew, an Automotive Engineering student, both in their second year, will drive from the Loughborough campus to the University of Derby – while having their eco-driving ability measured by on-board computers - before passing the vehicle on to the next team. The pair will set off from Loughborough at 2.55am on June 19.

Teams will be driving a Ford Fiesta, powered by a 1.5-litre TDCi diesel engine, which uses Bosch common rail diesel injectors and a high-pressure Bosch fuel pump. Monitoring equipment will analyse the efficiency of each team’s driving, with three awards up for grabs, which cover city, rural and highway driving. 

The main driver for the event, Jamie, said:

“I am looking forward to the challenge. Driving economically will be a rather different experience to racing a Formula Student car but will no doubt be interesting, exciting and a great insight into an economic driving style.

“I was delighted to be chosen to take on the responsibility for competing in the event and will hopefully be able to win one of the awards for Loughborough.”

Students taking part are all involved with Formula Student 2013, taking place at Silverstone from 4-7 July. The event challenges universities from across the world to design, build and race a single seat racing car from scratch in one year – before putting it to the test at one of the world’s greatest racetracks.

Jon Hilton, Chairman of Formula Student, said: “This is a fantastic challenge which will certainly prepare all the students for July’s competition.

“It’s the first time we’ve attempted a driving challenge of this scale and I wish all the teams the best of luck.”

Distances between universities range will from three miles to over 100 miles, but each team will be monitored equally. Prizes will be awarded at the Formula Student competition at Silverstone.

Peter Fouquet, president of Bosch UK, said: “With the help of Bosch technologies, the vehicle being used for the Formula Student Diesel Eco Driving Challenge achieves CO2 emissions of just 98g/km. In the near future, Bosch sees the potential across all vehicle segments for even greater CO2 emissions reductions – of up to 20 percent in some cases.”

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