Indonesian Teams underwent Safety and Technical Test at Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2011

Cikal ITB Team becomes the first out of 95 participations successfully passing safety and technical tests on the first day of the Shell Eco-Marathon (SEM) Asia 2011. Since the opening of the safety and technical tests from 09.00 AM up to 18.30, Cikal Team was the only successful team while other teams were unsuccessful due to technical problems.

"Thank God, we made it! I was a bit worried since the SEM safety and technical inspection was so strict and detailed. One of our vehicle tires was damaged when the vehicle was unloaded from the cargo. Good that we could find the replacement”, said Iwan Suminar, the team leader of Cikal Team from ITB.

Passing the technical and safety tests is a special accomplishment for all teams participating in the SEM Asia since their vehicles will be given a certificate for the admission to the circuit. Having arrived in Sepang does not guarantee that their vehicles will be automatically admitted to the circuit since they have to do their best to pass a series of difficult tests namely safety, technical inspection, and slalom test, which will determine whether their vehicles are eligible to be admitted to the Asian Shell Eco-marathon (SEM) 2011 circuit.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Not only the vehicles were tested, the verification officers also conducted oral tests on the knowledge of safety driving of the driver and reserved driver. Teams to undergo technical test will be given an inspection sheet called "Passport" which is very important because it will record the qualifications of the vehicles if they pass every inspection process comprising safety briefing, vehicle weight and overall examination. After passing the technical and safety tests, the student teams must undergo slalom test for inspecting acceleration, turning, and braking.

SEM Asia 2011 takes place on 6 - 9 July 2011 and Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell Peter Voser will flag-off the event on Friday, 8 July . This event, in which 95 teams from 13 countries are taking part, will also be attended by Shell Country Chairs of Asian countries, including Darwin Silalahi from Shell Indonesia, Shell’s stakeholders from businesspersons, academicians and non-governmental agencies and broadcasted by more than 100 media in Asia.

Better Preparedness

Compared to the SEM Asia 2010, Indonesian teams seem to be well-prepared this year and 85% of the physical components of the vehicles have been complete. At the last year’s event, even a day before before the opening, Indonesian teams were still struggling to assemble the scattered parts of the vehicles. Indonesian team was not the only team in trouble, other teams such as Pakistani, Indian and Malaysian teams were even assembling their vehicles right from the beginning at their respective pits. Since the competition only lasted in two days, this unpreparedness put much stress to the students. The committee noted some safety accidents in the pits due to students’ fatigue while they were working with mechanical equipment.

In order to avoid last year’s "troubles", Shell applies some additional rules to prevent accidents. A campaign to remind the importance of ensuring safety bearing the theme "Let's Work Towards Goal Zero!" has been intensively carried out by putting posters and banners in various spots, stationing an ambassador in each pit to guide, remind and monitor the potential occupational accident risks, organizing daily safety briefing which must be attended by team leaders, drivers and reserved drivers every morning and evening during Asian SEM 2011.

"Many people think that Shell Eco-marathon is just a fuel efficiency contest and that’s all. Actually, there are series of detailed tests of technical, safety and security aspects of our vehicles that must be undergone to get admittance to enter the circuit. They are quite difficult”, said Dr. Ario Sunar Baskoro, coordinator of Nakoela Team from UI.

The ten Indonesian student teams participating in Shell Eco-marathon (SEM) Asia 2011 are:

• UI with two vehicles: Nakeola (gasoline-fueled prototype) and Sadewa (gasoline-fueled Urban vehicle)
• ITB with two vehicles: Cikal
  Nu                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
  (gasoline-fueled Urban vehicle), Rakata (100% ethanol-fueled Prototype)
• UGM with two vehicles: Semar Prototype (gasoline-fueled prototype) and Semar Urban (gasoline-fueled Urban vehicle)
• ITS with three vehicles: Sapu Angin 3 (gasoline-fueled Urban vehicle), Sapu Angin 4 (biodiesel fueled Urban vehicle) and Sapu Angin 5 (gasoline-fueled prototype)
• Pontianak State Polytechnics Team (Polnep) with one vehicle: Khatulistiwa Line (gasoline-fueled prototype).

For more information about SEM, please visit

www.shell.com/eco-marathon

For more information, photos or interviews please contact:

Sri Wahyu Endah
Media Relations Manager
PT Shell Indonesia
sri.endah@shell.com
Phone: +62 811840605
www.shell.com/indonesia