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2023 season for BRS Motorsport: A rollercoaster ride of emotions
Literally at the last minute, the new racing car of the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences motor sports team was completed: the last remaining part arrived at the BRS Motorsport workshop in Sankt Augustin on the day of departure for the first race in northern Italy.
The members of the student motorsport club had been working towards this day for a long time. In two years of work, they had almost completely redesigned the G23e "Moni" and equipped it with numerous technical refinements.
The race on that weekend in July on the Varano racetrack in the province of Parma was to prove that the new electric racing car had what it took to compete on an equal footing with the best teams in the world in the student racing class.
The team members were aware that they would be taking a risk by starting in this first competition of the season. After all, according to the extensive simulations, the G23e would perform outstandingly. But there was no time for test drives before the departure to Italy. The venture, which began with euphoria, ended in disaster for the students: a breakage on the chassis during the technical inspection sent the promising electric racing car to an early exit. This meant that not only was this competition over for the young team from Sankt Augustin, but also, as it seemed on that day, the racing season as a whole, which had only just begun.
"The 2023 season was special - it's been a long time since we renewed so much mechanically in one season. Going to the race in Italy without any test kilometres was risky, but we accepted the point of no return. We wanted to ride the new concept this season and not postpone it," team manager Simon Hoos looks back.
"Even though the breakage of the monocoque on a chassis connection in Italy was painful, perhaps that's why we've grown even closer as a team. It was incredible to then win second place in Cost and Manufacturing and first place in Engineering Design at the competition in the Czech Republic - a clear team achievement. We are incredibly proud of this season and look forward to the next test kilometres of the G23e."
The competition in Italy had started with very encouraging results for the team. The design was highly acclaimed by the Italian examiners. The H-BRS team also mastered the disciplines in which the racing car was not moved with flying colours. The joy over the successful start was then followed by the emotional crash: the first independent drive of the new racing car ended abruptly after a few dozen metres. During the last part of the technical scrutineering, the brake test, a break in the monocoque brought the racer to a halt. Thanks to the safe construction of the monocoque, the driver was able to get out unharmed.
Back in Germany, the intensive examination in the workshop at home revealed the extent of the damage: a wishbone connection had been torn off the supporting structure of the G23e, which is made of composite materials.
But the team also found its way out of this valley. Former team members took a close look at the capital damage and assessed it as repairable. At the same time, a new sponsor was found in the company Wirtgen, which was willing and able to mill complex chassis parts very quickly.
Time was pressing, because in the light of the new findings, the students set themselves the goal of the race in the Czech Republic in the second week of August.
Seven labour-intensive days and nights later, the motor sportsmen and women ventured onto their familiar test track at the Hangelar airfield with the repaired race car. After careful performance improvement over several days and successful brake tests, the team became convinced: We can take part in the competition in the Czech Republic with this car. At the same time, the team decided not to take part in the big race at the end of the competition as well as the qualifying in view of the incomplete test programme.
The days in the Czech Republic again demanded a tremendous amount of nerve: First of all, the largely newly constructed G23e had to pass the technical scrutineering, which is considered to be particularly strict. And since the car, which had hardly been tested, was only to be subjected to a moderate load in the driving disciplines, good placings could at best be achieved in the static disciplines away from the race track.
Indescribable jubilation gripped the team when they were awarded second place in the prestigious "Cost and Manufacturing" category. The task here was, among other things, to create a detailed cost overview for the entire manufacturing process. But that was not all: on top of that, the students achieved first place in the supreme discipline "Engineering Design". In this category, the jury evaluates the racing car concept. All in all, the team scored a record-breaking 302 out of 325 points in the three static disciplines.
"I am therefore more than satisfied with the season, because without risk there is no progress," team supervisor Professor Dirk Reith looks back on the season. "And we have the confirmation that with the developments we once again have the potential to be far ahead. I think one of the most important experiences of this project is to learn from mistakes and just take problems as an opportunity to keep growing. We have great young people who bring exactly that spirit, so we can all look forward to the next steps."
Race car construction at the H-BRS
Press images (Scenes: BRS Motorsport; group photo: FS Czech)
Kontakt
Dirk Reith
Computational Science and Engineering , Managing Director of the TREE Institute, Presidential commissioner for institutional research co-operations, Faculty Advisor BRS Motorsport
Research fields
Location
Sankt Augustin
Room
B 223
Address
Grantham-Allee 20
53757 Sankt Augustin
Telephone
+49 2241 865 9678
Location
Sankt Augustin
Room
E 240
Address
Grantham-Allee 20
53757, Sankt Augustin
Telephone
+49 2241 865 9560