Shenzhen Technology University (SZTU) Racing Studio’s car racing team won the third prize in the Baja SAE China 2021 competition held recently in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

This was SZTU Racing Team’s first time to attend the competition. Two teachers have led the 25-student winning team.

Established in September 2019, SZTU Racing Studio aimed to participate in the Baja SAW China 2020. However, last year’s event was canceled due to the pandemic, according to Li Heyan, a professor from SZTU.

Song Donghong, a team member, told the Daily that during the game they “only slept three to four hours each day as problems kept popping up.”

“Our experience this year can help us achieve better results next year,” said Song.

Baja SAE China is a national competition where student teams in automotive-related majors from higher education institutions and vocational colleges compete in the design, manufacturing and inspection of off-road vehicles. Teams are required to use the same engine types and build small off-road vehicles according to specified rules, standards and time limit, and then go through a variety of tests.

Meanwhile, the SZTU studio has successfully completed building its first electric Formula race car recently.

According to Li, off-road vehicle races are made to test maneuverability, whereas Formula competitions mainly consider a vehicle’s handling performance, and the use of electric drives presented a new challenge.

The Daily report said that the studio’s ultimate goal is to develop a driverless smart car.

On April 16 this year, SZTU Racing Studio and StarkStrom Augsburg Racing Team of Augsburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany signed a Memorandum of Understanding, marking the studio’s international cooperation milestone.