2018 BAJA SAE

A challenging off-road track, over 80 single-seater buggies and plenty of dust.

With the BAJA SAE India rocking into its eleventh year, the Mahindra Group prepared yet another gruelling 4-hour endurance race, which brought together over 160 teams from engineering colleges across the nation to the city of Indore. But first, here’s some context.

For the last decade or so, the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) has been consolidating the BAJA series wherein engineering students are tasked into designing, fabricating and racing single-seater off-road buggies completely from ground up. Spread over a course of four days, the competition includes static and cost evaluation of the buggies, durability, acceleration and hill climb tests and the grand finale which is the endurance run. The key purpose here is to replicate real world design projects and the challenges that come with it. The purpose, therefore, is to build a rugged and capable prototype without any sort of expertise from professional fabricators.

The single cylinder engines in all the buggies are of the same make (Briggs & Stratton) however, the teams are free to design their own transmissions with the only restriction being the speed limit of 60kmph. For the 2018 edition, about 388 teams had registered, out of which 221 qualified for the finale. However, only 112 made it to the onerous 4-hour endurance run that we got to witness on the final day. The event kicked off with basic static evaluation round. All the buggies went under technical inspection at ground zero, which resulted in 112 teams making the cut to compete in the endurance race.

The 4-hour endurance run was held across the NATRIP facility at Pithampur, Indore and the dedicated dirt track with several steep climbs, small hills, banked corners and slushy pits proved to be handful for a whole bunch of teams. While all of them made the start just fine, the initial minutes were frantic as usual, as the drivers tried to get a hang of their surroundings on the narrow track. With the front runners opening up a bit of lead over others, the race was truly on. In our relentless quest to get action shots of the drivers often going up on two wheels and kicking the tail out, we were constantly moving around the track and witnessed some spectacular racing moves and overtaking.

The young drivers battled it out in the initial stages but eventually some of them eased off for the long endurance run that lay ahead. However, that didn’t mean the teams had it easy. Several teams, in fact, came to terms with foreseeable crisis including breakdowns, worn-out drivers and suspension components breaking off. As the final hour approached, the endurance run indeed had settled down in the bright light around noontime.

The final few minutes were apprehensive, with several teams soldiering on cautiously to avoid any breakdown. Ultimately, the crowd erupted into cheers as the buggies prepared to cross the chequered flag. The enthusiasm among fellow teammates and support staff only grew as the drivers crossed the chequered flag for the final time.

The top finishers had their cars inspected and soon afterwards, the winners were announced. Smt. Kashibai Navale College of Engineering Pune grabbed the top honours in the eBAJA category, followed by Shri Vishnu Engineering College For Women from Andhra Pradesh. The all-woman team put up a tough battle to take home the title of first runners-up. D.Y. Patil College of Engineering, Pune won the mBAJA category followed by College of Engineering, Pune and Institute of Technology, Nirma University taking 2nd and 3rd spot respectively.