We've been back in Aachen for just under a week now, had a chance to get some sleep and process the experiences of the summer. But what actually happened?
It all started at the beginning of July, when we left with our EV vehicle (Nuri) to Assen for Formula Student Netherlands (FSN). Due to the cancelled events in summer 2020, very few members had experience at events and we had to re-learn many things, even though we could count on the energetic support of our alumni as always. After some problems in the scrutineering, the technical acceptance of the vehicle, we unfortunately did not make it in time to compete in the SkidPad and Autocross. However, we were able to finish a strong second place in Acceleration and go through a long time in Endurance until a problem with our brake light stopped us after all a few laps before the finish. In the end, the result was a solid 6th place. But most of all we learned a lot at the event and there were some points we wanted to improve at the next events.
So we used the two weeks before Formula Student Austria to address the problems and improve. These changes had an effect in Spielberg. We were able to improve the static disciplines, got through the scrutineering faster and more confidently and therefore had enough time to prepare well for the dynamic disciplines. While some other teams had to struggle with problems, we were able to deliver consistently good performances. This brought us in the end the victory in the Autocross and the Endurance, as well as the second place in the Acceleration and the SkidPad. After there was an evaluation error at first, we could only cheer about the first place after the actual Award Ceremony. A big praise at this point again to AMZ Racing from Zurich, who reacted very sportive and gave us the cup immediately after the correction.
With this first place we were able to achieve the best result in the club's history and at the same time set a new internal points record. But even here we identified potential for improvement, which we wanted to address. Especially the static disciplines did not yet go as well as we wanted them to.
Some of our team members stayed in Vienna with the EV vehicle, thanks again to the TU Vienna team for their hospitality. The rest went back to Aachen to prepare our DV vehicle (Rita) for the first event of the year.
At the Hungaroring on the FSEast, we were finally able to participate in an event with both cars for the first time this year.
Nuri managed the scrutineering again without any major problems, but could not quite match the successes from Austria in the dynamic disciplines. On the other hand, we were able to reach the finals in all static disciplines in the EV category and even won the business plan. Rita took a little longer in Scrutineering, so that the time to the dynamic disciplines was very short and it threatened us to miss them. However, since some other Driverless teams felt the same way, it was organized without further ado that the break test was extended and there was a little more time for the dynamic disciplines. Many thanks to the Formula Student East team and all the other teams for the organization and the mutual help as marshals. In the end we were able to drive on the last day and finish the first autonomous dynamic discipline at an event. Despite very little time, Rita was able to drive both the Acceleration in 4.11 seconds, reaching over 90 km/h autonomously. We also successfully completed the Autocross and Trackdrive and achieved third place in each of these disciplines, with only one attempt per discipline. In addition, we also won the Business Plan in the Driverless category. In the end, with third place overall in the DV category and fourth place overall in the EV category, we had another very successful event.
Finally we drove to the Hockenheimring for the Formula Student Germany. But before that we went back to Aachen to go to the test track one more time and to participate in the virtual statics of the FSG, where we could win the business plan in the DV class again. Due to the person limitation of the FSG it was only possible for us to arrive with 8 persons per car and therefore the experience at the event was also quite different than at the previous events. It was also not possible to spend the night on a campsite with all the other teams and unfortunately some of the "normal" Fomula student spirit was missing. Nevertheless we didn't let it get us down and went highly motivated into the second event where we started with both cars.
We were able to achieve fourth place in Endurance with Nuri and third place in both Autocross and Acceleration. Due to some minor difficulties, where a very hilly track presented some problems to our software, Rita unfortunately only finished the Trackdrive. Nevertheless, we are very proud that we could finish the first Trackdrive in the club history on the FSG with a very good third place.
In the end, we finished fourth overall in both the DV class and the EV class, missing the podium in both classes by only a few points.
All in all, we can proudly look back on the most successful event summer in the club's history. They were very exhausting and work-intensive months, but after the canceled events last year we were able to gain a lot of experience, learn and grow together as a team. Of course, we also had a lot of fun and met a lot of new people, made contacts and friendships.
Congratulations to all the teams who successfully participated in this year's events and thank you for these experiences. It was a wonderful summer of events with all of you and we look forward to seeing you again next summer at the latest. Kudos to all current and of course former team members who have been designing, manufacturing, testing, troubleshooting and debugging day and night over the past few years to make sure we were successful at the events.
Now we have to learn our lessons from this season, to keep what went very well and to improve what is still expandable. In a few weeks the FSATA is coming up, where we will compete with Rita in the DV class and hopefully finish the 2021 events successfully. We are highly motivated to start the next season and to tackle the next big chapter: The first car in Ecurie history to master all disciplines, both manually and autonomously. There's a lot of work ahead of us, but we've never felt more like really getting started.
We would like to thank all our partners, supporters and friends of Ecurie Aix. Without you this project would never have been possible. We hope to see you all again as soon as possible to thank you personally and to celebrate these successes together.
Your team Ecurie Aix
If you feel like joining us next season, feel free to check out the current job openings on our website.
https://www.ecurie-aix.de/bewerbung
If you want to get more impressions from the events, feel free to watch our aftermovies on YouTube or follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn.
https://www.youtube.com/user/EcurieAix
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecurie-aix/
https://www.instagram.com/ecurieaix/
Overall results in the event summer 2021
FSN EV – 6th Overall
FSA EV – 1st Overall
FSEast DV – 3rd Overall
FSEast EV – 4th Overall
FSG DV – 4th Overall
FSG EV – 4th Overall