Narva Takes Monash Motorsport to the Finish Line

SYDNEY – Aug 13, 2013: Building a competitive race car is difficult work, but with the help of Narva’s ‘See Ezy’ Heavy-Duty/High Powered L.E.D Inspection lamp, Monash Motorsport’s race preparations have been made a whole lot easier.

Each year, the motorsport team, located at Monash University’s Clayton campus in Victoria, goes head to head with international universities at the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) motorsport competition in a race for first place.

FSAE is the world’s largest student engineering design competition where university students design, manufacture, test and compete with a single seat race car.

Monash Motorsport has been involved in the competition since 2000 and has won the Australasian Championship for four consecutive years from 2009, which has resulted in the team representing Australia at major US and European competitions. The team is currently ranked second out of 511 teams worldwide.

Before each event, the team’s technicians spend long hours preparing the racecar to make sure it is race ready, however, this can be a difficult task when the available light is not substantial. Narva’s inspection lamp is the ideal tool for such situations as it provides bright light from a small and compact handheld device.

According to Lead Powertrain Engineer, Chris Groves, the Heavy Duty Inspection lamp is very useful when working on a race car.

“We have been doing quite a lot of work modifying the race car and the inspection lamp is excellent for working under the race car body,” Chris said.

“The lighting in the workshop is poor and there are times when we are slaving away during the wee hours of the morning – the lamp is perfect for those conditions. The lamp’s high powered SMD L.E.Ds provide intense light and wide angled illumination of the car which allows us to get to the nitty gritty of any problem areas.”

“The battery also lasts for quite a while (up to eight hours) so it’s good to know that you can count on it for long stints in the workshop.”

Monash Motorsport comprises 25 senior members and 25 student recruits that are studying engineering, industrial design, business and science across a multitude of majors and disciplines at Monash University.

The team is constantly refining its race car and is currently working on the 13th model, known as the M13. The M13 benefits from reduced weight compared to its predecessor and takes on

a more advanced aerodynamic package with wings and a floor diffuser to improve down force and increase braking and cornering performance.

Chris said the inspection lamp has been popular amongst the Monash Motorsport team.

“In particular the team members praise the Heavy Duty Inspection lamp’s industrial strength magnet, a unique feature that isn’t seen in many other lighting products,” he said.“ The magnet comes in handy when you need to use two hands to work on the car.”

Monash Motorsport has also been using a Narva Probe Slimline L.E.D Inspection Light to get into the extra tight and dark areas of the race car engine and wiring system.

Chris has compared working on a race car to surgery.

“When we modify the race car’s wiring system, we need to ensure that we can see what we are doing, just like how a doctor needs to see which artery he will be cutting into. One mistake can lead to serious danger. The Probe inspection light has end tip illumination with SMD L.E.Ds which provide a concentrated light in confined spaces like engines.”

“Furthermore, the compact size of the Probe Inspection light is also well suited for small delicate areas of a car such as dashboards. You can basically put it anywhere without it getting in the way.

“It’s a great tool in the workshop and the perfect source of light for hard to reach places.”