Sydney Motorsport – the University of Sydney’s Formula SAE-A team – has officially unveiled its 2025 challenger, marking a milestone year for the program as it continues its ambitious transition into fully electric race cars ahead of the Formula SAE-A competition in Melbourne this December.
Celebrating its 25th year, the team hosted students, alumni, sponsors, faculty and industry partners at the annual launch night, revealing “SM25” and highlighting a year defined by technical breakthroughs, stronger organisational structures, and a renewed commitment to engineering excellence.
A Year of Foundations: Building Sydney Motorsport’s Electric Future
Now in its second year as an all-electric team, Sydney Motorsport used 2025 to deepen its EV capability, refine systems, and establish long-term processes that will shape the next generation of vehicles.
Team Principal Sam Palad, alongside Chief Engineers Lauren Punter and Tony Domtchenko, described the year as a turning point:
“This year has been about laying a strong foundation for Sydney Motorsport’s electric future. It’s been a difficult stage of the climb, but the dedication of all 87 team members has built something truly strong for the next 25 years.”
The transition into EV has brought engineering challenges, accelerated learning curves, and real-world problem solving—exactly what Formula SAE-A is designed to cultivate in Australia’s future mobility workforce.
Engineering Highlights: Innovation Under Pressure
To meet new rules, improve serviceability, and upskill members, the team made the bold decision mid-year to cut the chassis in half—a move that became the running joke and unofficial slogan, “Chop.”
The rebuild improved:
- Accessibility for repairs
- Compliance with evolving EV regulations
- Documentation and training for new members
The structures team also tackled a full redesign of the rear wheel hub and planetary gearbox system, resolving persistent reliability issues and enabling the car to return to dynamic testing.
Dynamics & Aero: Curved Wings and Smarter Cooling
The aerodynamics team delivered its first-ever swept aerofoil design, moving beyond flat planes to incorporate higher-performance curved surfaces—an engineering milestone for the group.
New manufacturing techniques included:
- Fiberglass infusion
- Improved mold design
- More robust production methods for repeatability
Meanwhile, the suspension and cooling teams adapted combustion-era systems for EV thermal demands—learning, iterating, and finally delivering a workable cooling solution for the powertrain.
Simulation & Testing: Data Without Data
With no baseline EV dataset, the simulations team relied on sponsor ShakySim and iterative modelling to create a predictive model of EV performance. This guided design decisions and supported subsystem validation.
Electrical Systems: Bringing the EV Platform to Life
This year marked Sydney Motorsport’s first-ever fully operational EV powertrain, a milestone achieved in June.
Major achievements included:
High Voltage (HV)
- Redesign of the accumulator (battery pack)
- Removal of over 100 internal wires to improve serviceability
- A lighter, more accessible unit using smart layout and aluminium components
- Creation of full documentation for future teams—something the team had never had before
Low Voltage (LV)
- Complete overhaul of wiring harnesses using RapidHarness cloud tools
- Centralisation of all electronics into a single “motherboard” zone
- Removal of 40–50 wires through consolidated PCB design
- Dramatic improvements in reliability and debugging
Together, these advancements mark a step change in the sophistication of the SM25 EV platform.
Business, Operations & Marketing: A Team That Runs Like an Organisation
Sydney Motorsport is not just a racing team—it’s a functioning engineering organisation with procurement, finance, recruitment, marketing and event operations.
Highlights included:
- 400+ Expressions of Interest in 2025, with the highest retention rate on record
- A new dedicated procurement division, streamlining all purchasing for 87 members
- Securing 24 sponsors, including seven new partners
- Strong engagement through a revitalised marketing strategy, pushing Instagram past 2,500 followers
- Expanded outreach to high schools and Women in STEM programs
- A strengthened alumni network, monthly newsletters, and new partnerships
Marketing also produced the 2025 livery “Slippery” and the SM25 launch video, celebrating the team’s heritage and evolving identity.
Honouring a Legend: 22 Years of Service
One of the night’s most emotional moments was the recognition of Greg Elder, Sydney Motorsport’s long-serving workshop technician, who is retiring after an extraordinary 22 years supporting Formula SAE teams at the university.
Greg has:
- Built or contributed to dozens of vehicles
- Trained generations of engineers
- Provided manufacturing expertise impossible to replace
Though stepping back, he assured the team he would “still be around at competition” and in his personal workshop—a touching reflection of his lifelong commitment.
Looking Ahead: New Leadership, New Vision
As the graduating execs hand over the reins, the 2026 leadership team was officially announced. A new role—Chief of Operations—has been added to support the increasing complexity of running an EV team.
The new executive team will guide Sydney Motorsport into its next chapter as they prepare for competition in Melbourne this December.
Why Formula SAE-A Matters
Formula SAE-A continues to be one of the most influential engineering platforms in Australia, giving students hands-on experience in automotive engineering, project management, teamwork, budgeting, and real-world problem solving.
Universities, employers and industry partners recognise FSAE graduates as some of the most job-ready engineers in the market—something the Sydney team repeatedly experiences through strong sponsorship and alumni recruitment.
A Challenger Ready for Melbourne
With SM25 revealed and competition only weeks away, Sydney Motorsport enters the final phase of testing, validating, refining and preparing.
It’s clear the 2025 team has built more than an electric race car—they’ve built the future of the program. And when the car rolls onto the track in Melbourne, it will carry the work, passion, and innovation of nearly 90 students who chose to spend their year learning, building and challenging themselves in the nation’s premier student engineering competition.
