Formula Bharat, in collaboration with Sika, proudly presents the Sika® Lightweighting & Safety Challenge, a special award recognizing teams that demonstrate excellence in reducing vehicle mass while maintaining structural integrity, safety, and performance. Lightweighting is no longer just about making vehicles lighter; it is about achieving the optimal balance between low mass, high stiffness, durability, manufacturability, and safety. This challenge encourages teams to adopt advanced materials, innovative design methodologies, and systematic optimization approaches to build robust yet lightweight race cars.
What the Challenge Evaluates
Teams will be assessed across the following key areas:
- Material Selection & Justification
Effective use of lightweight materials such as advanced alloys, composites, and adhesives, supported by strong quantitative justification and trade-off analysis. - Innovative Design for Weight Reduction
Original and well-engineered design strategies—including topology optimization, generative design, part consolidation, and efficient load-path integration—to eliminate non-structural mass. - Component-Level Optimization
Systematic lightweighting of secondary components such as brackets, housings, wiring, mounts, and other small parts that contribute cumulatively to significant mass reduction. - Measured Mass Reduction vs. Target
Actual vehicle mass reduction relative to a defined baseline or target, supported by validation of rigidity, strength, and safety through analysis or testing.
Evaluation Process
- Teams will first submit their entries through an online questionnaire, detailing their lightweighting approach, design decisions, and validation results.
- Based on the submissions, Sika will shortlist the top teams.
- The shortlisted teams will be judged on-site by the Sika team during Formula Bharat, focusing on design intent, execution quality, and real-world validation.
