The students from the Formula TU Ostrava team did not lose their way at the last and the most difficult race of the summer season. Overall, they took 15th place in the competition of 27 teams racing with combustion or hybrid powered vehicles. And they also had several partial successes, although not a single podium. For example, they made a big improvement compared to the previous race in the Business Plan Presentation category, indicating a return to last year's dominance in this category. "The girls worked incredibly hard, and in the end they got a nice sixth place for their business plan presentation," Petera did not hide his enthusiasm.
The Ostrava team was not bound by any big ambitions before leaving for the prestigious competition. "Everybody was scaring us with difficult technical acceptances, so I personally had the goal to pass them, to take part in all disciplines and to place in the better half of our category," said captain Petera. According to him, the technical acceptances were a piece of cake, even though they faced technical problems again just before departure. "We worked the night shift and replaced the engine," Petera admitted.
The team managed all the dynamic disciplines with one exception - the Endurance race. According to the captain, there was a high "mortality" of formulas on the technically demanding track, not excluding their Vector 08, which did not start after the change of pilots due to faulty electronics. In the rest of the race disciplines, however, the team was generally successful - mostly finishing in the middle of the starting field.
Fifteenth place overall is probably not a cause for great jubilation, but it is no disgrace in the context of the level of the race in Germany and the composition of the Ostrava team, which is currently dominated by newcomers. "The Formula Student competition has a history of more than fifty years. It started in the USA, but then Germany took the reins and set the highest standard across Europe," explained Zdeněk Petera. What is noticeable, he said, is the significant shift towards electromobility and the pressure Germany is putting on this trend. The numbers speak clearly - while barely thirty units competed in the combustion and hybrid engine category, there were more than seventy electric cars on the track. This year, moreover, was the last time that "combustion engines" and "hybrids" were allowed to take part in the German race at all.
So where will the Formula TU Ostrava team move next year? Let's find out.