{multithumb}We've made it!

After weeks packed with night shifts, sweat an brain wracking we finally made it: On the 6th of August 2008 our “masterpiece”, the “Ribbed 08” was loaded on our trailer…

Off we went to the Formula Student Germany (FSG) at the Hockenheimring.

After we had stored our equipment in our pit, we had to go back to work, because there where still plenty of minor repairs that had to be done. In the beginnig everbody was very enthusiastic, but the closer we came to the scrutineering, the greater became the nervousness among the teammembers. Because at the scrutineering we would see if we had violated any rules. But besides some minor flaws, the judges where satisfied with our work. And after a short period of rectification work, our car was ready to receive the first out of four tags needed to participate in the dynamic events. To receive the second tag, the car hat to pass the “Tilt Table”. In this test, the car had to be tilted 45° sideways. At the 45° angle, no fluids, such as gasoline, oil, ect. where allowed to leak. If this stage was cleared, the table was tilted sideways in a 60° angle to check wheather the car would tilt over or not. And that’s what it did, exactly at 59°. That was really disappointing, but after a couple of failed trys we finally passed the test.

At that point, all doubts where blown away and the whole team was anxious to see the car in action. The final two tests where the sound level check (a FSG Car must not be louder than 110 db) and a brakingtest. Since we couldn’t start building the car till the middle of april and we had just managed to assembly the car on time, it had not run a single test km. After we headed towards the engine testing area, frustration came up as the engine did not start running. So we pushed our car back to the pit. We quickly figured out that the spark plugs where not sparking, and so the troubleshooting began.

During the first night shift at the Hockenheimring’s pit lane we witnessed a really strong company between the teams, what we really appreciated. While we helped the team from Moscow to correct a huge constructional mistake caused by a misinterpretation of the rules, the Orion Racing Team from india helped us with our electronics. Also the teams from Cologne, Wiesbaden, Helsinki, Berlin and Aachen gave us great support. Especially the FHTW Berlin… Thanks for the great coffee! All teams did their best to help and support the other teams, either by providing know how, tools or just manpower. After we had rebuilt our engine’s wiring harness, we found out that the iginition control unit had broke down. Sadly we had no backup i.c.u. To borrow one was not an option, since we didn’t know what caused the failure. So we had to deal with the fact, that it was all over. Sunday morning at about 5am we dropped our tools and went to bed.

But in the end, we all came to the same conclusion. We can be very proud of beeing a part of the 2008 FSG. At this point we want to thank all of our sponsors,especially Mr. Andre Hölzgen from euro engineering for the support from the very beginning. We also want to thank the staff of the FH Frankfurt’s machine shops, the Combustion Engines Lab and the Automotive Engineering faculty for supporting all the way. We couldn’t have done it without your help!!!

We are really looking forward to the next season, hoping to be able to compete in the dynamic events then.

Thanks for the impressive event in Hockenheim and congratulations to the 2008 Champions form Delft!