
KOCHI: The 52-member team of engineering students from Cochin University of Science and Technology’s (Cusat) School of Engineering zoomed to the first place at the International Formula Bharat Competition 2025 that was held at the Kary Motor Speedway in Coimbatore from January 22 to 27. The team – Yeti Racing – came first in all eight categories they competed in.
Speaking to TNIE, Abhijith Mohan, captain and test driver for the team says, “This is the first time that a team from Kerala won the competition which sees teams from all over India participating.”
According to him, everything from design and building of the race car is done by the students.
“We created the car out of zero and participated in the combustion category. The competition has two segments: combustion and electrical. Hence, the involvement of students from all branches of engineering. Though 90% of the team is made up of mechanical branches, we also have students from the electrical, electronics, IT and Computer Science departments,” he adds.
“Formula Bharat is a prestigious engineering design competition for vehicle enthusiasts. In this, the winners are selected by evaluating the engineering design excellence, manufacturing cost, marketability, and dynamic performance of students from colleges and universities across the country. This is a global student formula competition hosted in 11 different countries every year,” says Abhijith.
According to him, the team has been working on the project for the past year.
“In 2024, we had taken part in the Supra 2024, where we achieved overall AIR 9,” he adds. The team spent around `8 lakh to make their dream car.
“The fund was realised through sponsorships from private firms and the students also pitched in pooling amounts ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 every month,” says Abhijith.
The entire car was built on the campus since going outside would have led to incurring even more expenditure, he adds. The team was supported by faculty Dr Girish Kumaran Thampi and Dr Biju N.
The team is now gearing up to perform even better in the areas that they didn’t do so well like engineering design, overall statics, cost and manufacturing and business plan presentation.