The students are rightly proud of these trophies. Big. Shiny. And the inscription: Second place in the overall standings. Best performance so far. The Fachhochschule Dortmund Race-Ing. team crowned a strong racing season at the Alpe Adria in Croatia. The reward for many, many hours of hard work.
Markus Dec is the team's Technical Director and is responsible for the racing car. "We dared to do a lot this year," he sums up. The "Rhino IV" was fitted with aerodynamic rear and front wings. A visual eye-catcher and good for driving stability. In addition, although the new carbon chassis is more sensitive than the steel version, it significantly reduces the weight of the car. This is one of the reasons why the Race-Ing. team even took first place in the efficiency category in Croatia. The team from Dortmund also finished the demanding endurance race in third place on the podium. Together with the scores for the business plan and the design and costs of the racing car, the bottom line was a well-deserved second place in the overall standings.
Drawing the right conclusions and learning
The season had initially started with a major disappointment. At the race in Austria, a loose screw led to a premature end on the track. "It was a one-cent item that ruined our good performance. That was incredibly annoying," says Markus Dec, emphasizing at the same time: "We were able to draw the right conclusions from it." Because that's also what the Race-Ing. team is all about: gaining their own experience.
Every year, the FH team builds a new car - from scratch: Chassis, running gear, electrics. "We only have a good six months to do this," says Markus Dec. The regulations for the coming season are published at the beginning of November, then the planning phase begins, followed by the construction phase. The latter in particular is accompanied by many long days and nights in the workshops at Fachhochschule Dortmund and on the LaSiSe test track in Selm. All alongside their studies. With just under 20 members, the Dortmund Race-Ing. team is one of the smaller teams in Formula Student. At large universities with teams of 50 to 100 students, the work is spread over many more shoulders. This made the success at the Alpe Adria in Croatia all the more gratifying.
Outlook for the coming season
Markus Dec is already thinking about next year. "Over the past few seasons, we have focused on evolution rather than revolution and stuck to the basic design of the Rhino," says the Technical Director. In 2026, the Race-Ing. team wants to fundamentally change the racer, use hybrid technology and CO2-neutral synthetic fuels and give the Rhino a sustainability boost. The foundations for this have already been laid. In addition to the racing events in Austria and Croatia, the team also took part in the "Formula Future" in Meppen, a relatively new event with a focus on alternative drive concepts.
The Race-Ing. team wants to continue along this path and is still looking for motorsport enthusiasts. This is because the teams in Formula Student are subject to constant change. Students graduate and leave the teams, young students move up and are trained by the "old hands". They can get involved in the planning and construction of the vehicle, but also in the business plan, sponsorship and marketing. What does the team have to offer? Many crazy weeks in the construction phase as well as in the racing season. The great feeling of having achieved something as a team - and maybe a few big trophies again.