Formula Student Germany 2010 - Competition Report

Two weeks following from Silverstone, the team went to the Hockenheim event with essentially a completed (although untested) car, but with a fried ECU (faulty charger), a banking error resulting in all of the teams funds being taken away (later corrected) and amendments to be made from FSUK.

Much of the first few days and nights were spent rebuilding the suspension system after the correct components had since arrived. Being 60th in the scrutineering queue, and granted the 24hr pit lane opening at Hockenheim gave the team time to revert to the original design, to improve the steering and fix the ECU. Disastrously however, only a few yards from the scrutineering bay, the tripod bearings in the driveshaft collapsed. The next couple of hours were spent franticly fault-finding and securing a replacement. This left just enough time to scrutineer the next day although fixing the drive shaft and reinstalling the electrical system took until driver‘s briefing the following morning at 7am.

The team spent the day in scrutineering, but eventually came unstuck on the ―tilt test (designed to make sure the weight distribution will not cause undue leaning of the car). The team did pass in the end, but the noise test was now closed. Reluctantly the team had to accept they would not be receiving dynamic points this time. In any case, the event was enjoyable for all, and the whole team, almost all of whom are on the team in 2011 gained invaluable experience.