The HSNR racing team from the Hochschule Niederrhein has successfully completed the racing season. This year, the races in Spielberg (Austria) at the end of July and Hockenheim (Germany) in mid-August were on the agenda. Both race weeks took place as part of the international Formula Student racing series, in which 900 university teams compete worldwide.
The first race took place in Spielberg, Austria, on the Formula 1 track. As in Formula 1, the Formula Student event was initially about passing the technical scrutineering. The inspectors had nothing to complain about, so the RS-23c car was cleared for competition.
In bad weather and heavy rain, further examinations followed: While the disciplines "Acceleration" (acceleration) and "Skidpad" (circular surface on which the driving behavior is tested) were successfully passed, the discipline "Autocross" caused problems. In autocross, a sprint race is run on a short track (comparable to a kart track). Here, the gasoline pressure dropped in the curves, which is why the drivers could not give full throttle. Immediately, the team set to work to solve the problem. Despite a night shift, the problem continued to occur in further examinations the following day. In order not to damage the car more severely, the team management decided after much haggling to remove the car from the classification of the last discipline, the Endurance. In the end, the HSNR racing team finished 14th overall.
The team did not have much time for tinkering, because a good two weeks after the race, the next race was just around the corner. At the Hockenheimring, the disciplines of technical design, cost efficiency and business plan were completed quickly. Here, the team was able to gather important feedback for upcoming tasks.
The teams also had to compete in autocross during this race week. As in Spielberg, the Krefeld team had little luck: the car dropped out on the first lap due to a technical defect. However, the team quickly rectified the fault so that a few more laps could be driven. The times were even faster than last year.
Finally, the Endurance race (long distance race) over 22 kilometers was on the agenda. Due to the problem in Spielberg and the resulting retirement, the premiere took place at Hockenheim. Since this year's car consumes a lot of fuel, the driver had to drive economically over the long distance. Nevertheless, some fast laps were driven. The team was particularly pleased that the whole 22 kilometers were completed for the first time since 2017. The members would not have expected this before the race. In the final standings, HSNR Racing finished 11th out of 27 teams. "After this successful first real season after the pandemic restrictions, the entire team is looking forward to new challenges, such as the upcoming E-car, as well as new members starting in the upcoming winter semester," says team leader Frederic Schiwan, looking ahead to the upcoming season.
