BERN RACING TEAM
Eurocircuits blog
Blog by Bern Racing
This year, the Bern Racing Team has worked on “Sajetta”, the 2024 Formula Student race car from the Bern University of Applied Sciences. 9 months after the first concept of the car emerged, we were able to present it to our sponsors and families in June.
The aim of this season’s car concept was to focus more on vehicle performance while keeping it reliable. We have successfully managed to get our car faster by getting the weight down from 20kg and focusing on vehicle dynamics.
We were also looking to implement control algorithms in the car such as Traction Control and State of Charge estimation of the battery. We have successfully implemented these algorithms in our race car, making it both faster and easier to manage energy. Thanks to Eurocircuits’s high quality PCBs, we could implement these systems without any issues.
This season, Sajetta is taking part to 4 Formula Student Events. Formula Student Switzerland, Formula Student East, Formula Student Germany and Formula Student Italy. With the first two competitions already finished, we can now look back on the team’s performance at these events.
1 FS Switzerland
Our first competition was our home race in Switzerland. Starting in mid-July, this was the first challenge for the team.
Our team performed well in the technical inspections, passing them quite easily with no major issues.
Sajetta’s performance could then shine in the Dynamic Disciplines where we took a second place in the Skidpad event and a third place in the Acceleration event!
Unfortunately for us, the car suffered some technical issues in the last two dynamic disciplines, not allowing us to finish Autocross or Endurance.
Overall, this event was very good for us. We could gain valuable knowledge on our car and could prepare for the upcoming events of the season.
We finished 5th out of 15 teams overall, a testament to the team’s ability to adapt in tough situations and stressful moments.
2 FS East
Our second event, FS East, took place in Hungary, only a week and a half after we came back from Switzerland.
Before coming to the event, we had some technical issues with the car, forcing us to switch the car to a 3-wheel drive power mode. The team nonetheless pushed to make the best of it and maximise our performance even with a small disadvantage.
The event started beautifully, we passed every technical inspection on the first try and we were the first electric team to be able to drive in Hungary!
Even with our issue, the car still performed extremely well in the dynamic disciplines, beating our overall team record for the skidpad with a great 4.912s time! Acceleration and Autocross event also went well, placing us around 15 for both these disciplines. We were set to have a great time for the endurance event but unfortunately, a gearbox leak happened during the endurance event, forcing us to retire the car. Our pace and battery management were perfect, but this proved again the toughness of this discipline.
Overall, this was again another success for our team, demonstrating our commitment, passion and speed on the track.
We have now repaired the car, and it is back to its four-wheel drive powertrain.
We are currently preparing for the upcoming Formula Student events and are focusing on reliability to ensure we can finish the coveted endurance discipline.
We would like to thank Eurocircuits again for their support in our project. The PCBs they provide for us are of great quality and are a deciding factor when it comes to the build quality of the car and its reliability.
For more information please visit the Bern Racing website.
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