Institut Teknologi Bandung

Organized by IMI (Indonesia Motorcycle Association), the Gokart National Championship took place at SICK (Sentul International Karting Circuit), Bogor and was held in six series. The first series was held in February 2022 while the sixth was held in September 2022. A series of trophies were won at this year's championships as follows.

ITB RCKT won several trophies in this year’s championship, which as listed as the following:

1. 2nd place Shifter University 2022 in the second series, 19-20 March 2022
2. 1st place 2022 Shifter University in the third series, 29-30 May 2022
3. 2nd place 2022 Shifter University in the fourth series, 25-26 June 2022
4. 1st place 2022 Shifter University in the fifth series, 6-7 August 2022
5. 1st place 2022 Shifter University in the sixth series, 3-4 September 2022
6. 2nd overall winner of 2022 Shifter University
7. 3rd overall 2022 University Champion (team category)

Despite being inactive since 2016-2021, ITB RCKT managed to secure their winning spot. When the team is reactivated, the members do aim for victory; instead, they see their participation and completion of the matches as an admirable milestone in the midst of limitations.

ITB RCKT began to resume their normal activities when Muhammad Irsyad Albanna (Physics Engineering, 2020) was recruited to the team. During his childhood, Irsyad was interested in go-karts. He, along with other members, restarted ITB RCKT’s activities with the help of his father's automotive workshop.

"In the workshop, all of us start working from scratch. We did not even know the difference between nuts and bolts back then,” Brain Primana Agung (Mechanical Engineering, 2019), the Chief Mechanic of ITB RCKT, recounted. “We continued to practice until we finally understood each of our capabilities."

ITB RCKT’s victory is the culmination of all the lessons learnt from their errors in the third round of the last series. Each series has six rounds, and the team admitted that they encountered issues during the early stages. Fortunately, they were able to catch up during the pre-finals and snatched first place in the final round.

The Story Behind ITB RCKT’s Victory

The Head of ITB RCKT, Natan Sunirat (Mechanical Engineering 2018), said that it is difficult to unite the members of the team, who have their respective ideals. While most members aim to learn more about motor engines or go-karts, the team needs other necessary resources such as administration.

Nevertheless, the journey faced by the members has fostered a close sense of family among them, and they hoped to achieve more victories in the future.

Another interesting story during the competition is experienced by the driver, Irsyad. Since ITB RCKT is an exclusive community that is part of the ITB Mechanical Engineering Student Association, the club does not recruit members via open registration. Because of this, Irsyad was rejected when he offered himself to be the driver for the competition.

The first offer was not warmly welcomed until the club realized the importance of collaborating instead of competing. The members finally lowered their ego and accepted him as a racer albeit being from a different major.

Irsyad was chosen because he has the experience and potential to become a racer, with his background that is used to the world of go-karts. Moreover, ITB RCKT did not have members who were ready to become racers at that time; the last driver they had was a 2016-class student who had graduated.

"It is harder to find drivers than building go-karts," Natan added.

The great opportunity bestowed to Irsyad successfully paid off when he rose to victory in this year's Gokart National Championship.

As a go-kart driver, Irsyad has gone through many training sessions. Aside from physical endurance, he must bet on his personal safety from various accidents during the race. Furthermore, driving a go-kart is not comparable to the usual four-wheeled vehicles; several parts of go-karts such as brakes and steering have different locations and designations, and drivers must be familiar with this information.

One of the lessons Irsyad learned as ITB RCKT’s driver is being more punctual with the limited time of each race. He also understands the importance of keeping his emotions in check while racing with other opponents. Thanks to this championship, he has become a more consistent person than before.

This article was summarized from https://ftmd.itb.ac.id/id/rckt-itb-bawa-pulang-piala-kemenangan-di-kejurnas-gokart-eshark-rok-cup-indonesia-2022/https://ftmd.itb.ac.id/id/cerita-dibalik-kemenangan-rckt-itb/

Reporter: Lukman Ali (Mechanical Engineering, 2020)
Translator: Ruth Nathania (Environmental Engineering, 2019)