Team Kshatriya - One Of India's Best BAJA SAE Teams

College racing events such as Formula Student, BAJA SAE are very popular in engineering colleges, universities across the globe. These events offer engineering students a very good platform to leverage what they have learned in theory and put it into practice by building a race car. India has very good college racing teams like IIT Bombay Racing (Electric) and Pravega Racing (Combustion) who participate at the highest levels of Formula Student globally. Apart from Formula Bharat; BAJA SAE and Enduro Student India are amongst the leading college racing competitions in India. We are going to tell you more about Team Kshatriya who has been one of the oldest and highly successful BAJA SAE teams from India.

Team Kshatriya is a leading BAJA SAE team based out of VIT, Vellore in India. Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore is one of India’s top engineering colleges and is also the home of Pravega Racing – India’s best Formula Student (Combustion) team. Team Kshatriya participates in BAJA SAE India and Enduro Student India which take place at Pithampur and Pune in India respectively. BAJA SAE is an inter-college student design competition run by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The competition challenges college racing teams and aspiring engineers to design, build and race off-road vehicles that can tackle the harshest terrain. The cars designed by teams in BAJA competitions are very similar to dune buggies.

Team Kshatriya was founded in 2006 by a group of mechanical engineering students from VIT, Vellore. Team Kshatriya was one of the first all-student motorsport teams of India and also the first Indian team to participate in BAJA SAE South Africa. With the inception of BAJA SAE India in 2007, Team Kshatriya shifted focus to the new competition making it their primary competitive event annually. The events in BAJA SAE India are divided into 2 categories – Static Events and Dynamic Events. The Static Events include – Design Report Presentation, Cost Evaluation, Business Plan Presentation, CAE Evaluation (Bonus Event), Go Green Challenge (Bonus Event); whereas the Dynamic Events include – Acceleration, Rock Crawl, Suspension, and Traction, Maneuverability, Endurance Race. BAJA SAE India sees over 400+ college racing teams participate every year, hence making the competition a great proving ground for talented young engineers and a hotbed of innovation.

Team Kshatriya has a strength of 46 members who are bonafide students of VIT, Vellore; each playing a crucial role in the success of the team. The team members are divided across various departments – Vehicle Dynamics, Transmission, Brakes, Design, Electrical and Management. Team Kshatriya’s current car is Vikrant which is combustion vehicle powered by a single-cylinder 305cc 10HP air-cooled, Briggs & Stratton OHV Intake Model (engine is event specified, all teams have to use the same engine with no other modifications) mated to a customized CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) gearbox. The car can reach a top speed of above 60 km/hr and has a relatively short turning radius of 1.8 meters.

Many college racing teams are funded and managed by students themselves. Like a lot of college racing teams in India, Team Kshatriya has often found it difficult to raise funds via sponsorships and partnerships. However, this has not curbed their innovation and determination to be the best. Kshatriya was one of the first BAJA teams in India to make the switch from a manual transmission to a customized CVT. The custom CVT transmission was built by the team members of Kshatriya themselves! Kshatriya is among the handful of teams who have custom-built their braking system which includes the master cylinder, brake calipers, and brake rotors as well. A short turning radius is very handy, especially in an off-road vehicle. Team Kshatriya is one amongst the very few teams who have achieved a turning radius of 1.8 meters (under 2 meters). 

Team Kshatriya believes in constantly improving from their learnings over the past events and experiences. This is crucial to their success and being amongst the leading teams in India. Before beginning work on their next car, Kshatriya internally discusses and collectively learns from their shortcomings in the previous events and works towards strengthening themselves in all departments. The collective inputs of all team members are paramount to the success of a race team and Kshatriya follows this process very diligently. Kshatriya team members are a mix of freshers, juniors, and senior members with regard to their course completion at VIT. The freshers are inducted during their first year of college and are groomed, trained under the seniors of the team this form of mentorship helps for better managerial planning within the organization and also helps juniors be well-groomed and trained to lead the various departments of the team in the future. The development of a new car comes in 3 phases – Design, Manufacturing, Testing, and Validation. Each of these phases plays a very crucial part in the making of the final car.

While they are a race team, Kshatriya is run like an organization having its own processes and systems. This further enhances the holistic development of team members and the experience shapes them to be ready for the real corporate world. The main aim of Team Kshatriya is to become the best BAJA SAE team in India and winning the coveted BAJA SAE India championship. With a strong foundation, innovative approach, great teamwork, and above all the determination to succeed Team Kshatriya are well on their way to do the same. We at AutoGuru India are proud to have been associated with Team Kshatriya and are very happy to get their story out to the masses! Watch this space for more!