The Goodwood Festival of Speed is the world’s biggest and most diverse classic motorsports event.
At the event each year, young graduate engineers compete in a downhill
soapbox derby challenge. This year, Ford graduate engineers are
set to put in one of the most daring runs ever seen by spectators at the event with a high-tech, carbon-fibre "soapbox".
This is the second year that the Ford flag has been flown in the race by its graduate recruits, so this year's team of 15 engineers has both recently qualified graduates and five of last year's team members to act as supervisors and pass on their experience.
This year's vehicle uses advanced materials like carbon fibre and a composite bonded frame, so there is virtually no metal in the body at all. The body shape has been developed using computational fluid dynamics and it is no surprise that the final shape is reminiscent of smaller historical race cars.
The team is based at Ford's technical centre in Dunton, Essex. The team members, all volunteers working out of hours, gain valuable experience and access to a wide range of facilities and resources as they learn about the site's activities and broaden their own engineering and design skills.
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