THE ALUMNUS’S TALE
Having cut his teeth at GP3 team Status Grand Prix while writing his thesis on lap time simulation, Gustavo Beteli’s stock has risen rapidly. After graduating from his MSC in Motorsport Engineering and Management at Cranfield in 2012, the Sao Paolo native built experience in single-seaters before moving to sportscars, first with JRM and then Aston Martin Racing, becoming its lead engineer in 2017.
He currently runs the #97 GTE Pro Vantage of Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin in the World Endurance Championship, attends all tests – where he looks after all lap time simulations – and supports Aston’s GT3 customers.
“I spend over 100 days per year at race tracks – that’s what I wanted to do, so I’m not complaining!” he says.
Beteli chose Cranfield for its industry links – “it’s not only what you learn, but you need to leave with a job, otherwise there’s no point” – and enjoyed the academic nature of the course, which built on his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the
Centro Universitario da FEI in Brazil.
A two-hour lecture given by Pat Symonds about tyres was a highlight, but there was a practical dimension to the course too – the 2012 cohort’s group design project concerned the development of a hybrid system complete with energy recovery for a Formula Ford. Within his group, Beteli was assigned to developing an electric motor attached to the turbo, similar to the MGU-K used in F1, although the technology available then was limited.
“It was good fun to try to create something that would fit in a Formula Ford that would be viable as well,” Beteli recalls. “We didn’t have to physically purchase the parts, but we had to design something that would package and simulate it because you’re increasing performance but also the mass.
“There’s not much help in a sense, you just need to do it. It’s like when you leave university and get a job, you just need to get on with the work.”