Season 2023
In September, the handover takes place, and the new management team, along with the new leaders, is ready to embark on a new season and strive to establish itself in the European scene in the electric and driverless category.
The concept of the DP14 follows in the footsteps of the previous prototype, improving all those critical aspects that occurred during the just-concluded races. The main focus of the design is to enhance reliability in all departments, with particular attention to the cooling and electronic departments, crucial for the success of the project.
With the release of the regulations, the Chassis department had to contend with an introduced novelty that put a strain on the chassis design. Thanks to the work and assistance of some of our sponsors, we managed to design and then build a chassis that fit within the competition-imposed limits, optimizing the models from the previous season’s chassis in an optimal way. For this reason, the assembly part starts slightly later than the schedule due to the delay in the production of the monocoque. Still, excellent planning and collaboration with sponsors allow us to finish the prototype by the end of May.
This was possible thanks to the great work and effort of all departments who, during the chassis wait, manufactured most of the components to be put into the car, optimizing the timing and reducing delays to the maximum. With the fully realized and functional car by the end of May, the Team was able to conduct numerous on-track tests before the first race, to identify any possible malfunctions and correct them before it was too late.
July 2023
The first race sees us involved in the home competition, FSATA at Varano de ‘Melegari. The static events are well-prepared, achieving first place in the business plan and second place in the design event. The dynamic events yield good results, although some issues with the battery pack prevent us from completing the endurance and therefore competing for first place. Nevertheless, thanks to all the good results achieved, the Team reaches the third overall position, securing the first podium in the history of the electric category.
The following week, we moved to Austria, a competition with a higher level as all the Top Teams were present. Here, as in Italy, we achieve first place in the Business Plan presentation. Regarding the dynamic events, we had no reliability issues, managing to finish the endurance in second place. This, along with all the other results, allows us to reach the podium again in third place, matching the success in Italy and proving to the competition that the DP14 project has been well executed.
August 2023
The first week of August saw us involved in the race in Hungary, the first race where the Team can compete simultaneously in the electric and driverless categories. In the driverless category, we demonstrated our worth, obtaining second place in the autocross. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side as it rained throughout the week. This reflected in our results as we couldn’t find the right grip with the car on wet conditions, especially with the driver, resulting in a collision with the barriers in the endurance test, fortunately without harm to the driver. Despite this major incident, the Team proved well-prepared for any eventuality, as the car was completely repaired after 3 hours, ready to compete. The judges didn’t allow it due to a matter of minutes, but we left Hungary with the awareness of giving our all and showing the entire paddock our capability.
About a week later, we set off for the last race of the season, in Germany. Here, as in Hungary, we competed in both the electric and driverless competitions, once again demonstrating our worth. Regarding the driverless category, we improved on what was shown in Hungary, obtaining first place in the autocross. Thanks to the results of the other dynamic and static events, we ranked fourth in the overall standings.
September 2023
After a challenging summer, with its ups and downs, the handover has taken place again, with the aim of demonstrating our growth mindset and climbing back onto the podium.
Season 2022
March 2021
The board defines goals for the following season that would entirely disrupt the DP12EVO design. Through the Academy project, initial analysis and case studies begin, so as to provide the material from which to design the new prototype.
Two guidelines, two paths to converge: lighten the vehicle and exploit the ground effect. No less important, it was finally time to unveil two years of behind-the-scenes work with the introduction of the new autonomous driving system.
September 2021
The transition of witnesses takes place, and the new management is hungry for innovation, ready to earn a place among the best Formula Student teams.
The design choices that would distinguish the latest prototype involved increasing the battery pack capacity by 1.6 kWh, massing the entire prototype below 200kg, and integrating driverless systems with existing electronic systems.
The multibody model was the big challenge in the design of the new prototype, which caused some delays on the overall deadline. Subsequently, the production phase was impacted by several external disturbances. The pandemic had slowed the supply of raw materials, the prices of which had risen significantly, while the war made electricity an undiscounted resource.
I numerosi ritardi sull’arrivo delle componenti non hanno permesso un’equa distribuzione del lavoro tra i vari reparti, costringendo il team a produrre i componenti in brevi intervalli di tempo, in modo da convergere con le disponibilità dei nostri partner.
Despite the pressured climate, the team managed to achieve major innovations, including the first impact attenuator in carbon, the first hollow laminations of components, and the first battery pack totally made in-house.
July 2022
Problems with the battery pack make it impossible to participate in the dynamic events of our first race, FSATA. However, the static events end successfully, resulting in second place in the Business Plan and fourth place in the Design Event, along with plenty of feedback to improve and aim for more ambitious positions in subsequent races.
The machine is taken away a day before the end of the competition to begin preparing for FSEAST. Difficulties in handling interference also delay the delivery of the Vehicle Status Video. During the VSV recording, the new prototype acquires its nickname for the season: TIMIDA, as it had been introverted in the initial testing phase, only to prove later that it can run and run hard!
August 2022
It comes to Hungary. The technical inspections are very detailed and the judges ask for changes to one of the solutions adopted for the placement of the HV cables. Through collaboration between multiple departments, it is decided to cold-roll to make the t-tray structural and able to protect the HV cables from potential impact with the ground or other disturbances, making the DP13autonomous project safer.
Once the technical inspections have been passed, the team enters the race, which presents a first major challenge. In fact, for the first time, the team participates in two different categories in one race (EV and DV) and has to deal with twice as many static and dynamic events.
For the first time, the team participates in the Design Finals in both EV and DV categories, taking third place and first place, respectively. In the driverless category, the DP13autonomous car completes all dynamic events, including the track drive. Unfortunately, the car failed to complete the endurance in the electric category due to a problem with the cooling system, which then compromised the inverters.
At the end of the race in Hungary, there is little time to get ideas together, as in a few days the last competition of the 2022 season would begin: Formula Student Germany.
German team Ka-RaceIng, the leader in the DV category, offered to host the team at their facility to make the necessary repairs and test the car before the start of FSG. For the first time they are working closely with top European teams, including German teams Ecurie Aix and e-gnition Hamburg and Norwegian team Revolve NTNU. It is a unique opportunity to get to know them better and to make Dynamis better known.
The epilogue to this journey is the Design Event’s second place in the EV-DV category in the Olympus of Formula Student. The DP13 design was recognized as innovative and high-performing compared to the best formula student teams in the world. With dynamic driverless events, the team scores numerous points that enable it to qualify for second place in the OVERALL DV ranking.
September 2022
The passing of the baton has once again taken place, ambitions have grown, and the new season is already ready to give us more challenges.
Season 2021
The first electric prototype takes shape!
At the end of the 2020 season, we had positive feedback on the design of our first electric prototype from the FSOnline judges, but because of the Coronavirus, which nipped DP12e production in the bud, we still had many challenges to face, all in the midst of a pandemic of uncertainty and limitations.
In September 2020, we were able to return to our operational space at the Polytechnic with a clear purpose: to build DP12e. On some areas of the project we had a lot of doubts that only the completion of the machine could resolve. On other aspects, such as the cooling system, battery pack, planetary gears and steering wheel, we knew we had room for improvement, so we devoted time and resources to pursue a redesign of them. After the design of the DP12e was completed, these improved components were then fitted to the prototype, thus resulting in the DP12evolution.
In the fall of 2020, we experienced an epidemiological situation that worsened as time passed, and this brought increasingly stringent limitations in the number and manner of access control to our facility. As a result, there were countless delays in the production of many components.
The pandemic, however, has not only created problems on the technical front. DynamiΣ, more generally Formula Student, is an environment in which one not only learns new knowledge and purely technical skills but also forms strong bonds with one’s teammates. The Team therefore immediately reorganized to continue work in smart working mode and keep the spirit of friendship alive through various convivial get-togethers, albeit at a distance.
To make the most of our time (in addition to redesigning and improving some components) we devoted ourselves to a series of extensive dyno testing of our motor and gearbox assembly. This allowed us not only to precisely map motor and gearbox efficiencies but also to refine our control algorithms and perform longevity tests on the wheel assembly’s gearbox (a component new to our Team), covering the equivalent of 1,000 machine kilometers.
The period between December 2020 and April 2021 was characterized by continuous, albeit slowed down, production of various components of the prototype. This production was accompanied by a multitude of tests, to get feedback on the design of various parts before assembly. All this with burning passion driving us toward our one goal: to take the DP12evo to the 2021 summer races, which as scheduled would be the Dutch (July 4-9), Hungarian (Aug. 7-11) and Italian (Oct. 10-13) races.
With the arrival of the chassis in June, we were able to start assembling the car, but we had very little time before the Dutch race. Although we had devoted ourselves heart and soul to its realization, we arrived at the Dutch race with a car completed at the last second and without having had time to perform any track testing.
During the race, we were unable to complete the technical inspections on the battery pack and for this reason we could not take part in the dynamic events. However, we made our case by winning the Business Plan Presentation event, and with the experience gained from the technical inspections, we knew where to go to improve for the next event.
In July we then conducted a good number of track tests designed, first, to check the reliability of the car and then to extract maximum performance. In order to prepare ourselves as well as possible, we also performed various simulations of the static events and technical inspections.
Arriving at the Hungarian race, we could see the fruits of the last month of work. We passed the technical inspections on the first try, and the prototype proved to be surprisingly reliable. We completed our first Endurance, which is not an obvious goal even for very experienced teams, and took third place in the Efficiency category, finishing eleventh out of twenty-seven participating electric teams.
In September we continued with track testing in preparation for the Italian race. Arriving in Varano we completed our best race in the electric category with a fourth place overall and the title of best Italian electric team.
Despite two extremely difficult years, during which technical challenges were compounded by many organizational challenges in an unprecedented situation, we can finally say that we made it. The debut in the electric category for the DynamiΣ PRC was a success, and now there is nothing left to do but go back to work to improve again and return to the top of the competition.
Season 2020
New season, new car, new challenge!
After the great successes of the 2019 season and the climb to a memorable fourth place Overall in the Combustion category, the team is now looking to the future with the design and construction of its first fully electric-powered prototype.
The changes at the technical level are radical, but the foundations built in now 16 years of experience are solid and represent an invaluable guideline to best embark on an increasingly challenging path, but one that hides pitfalls and many uncertainties.
In 2020, the DP12e project was thus born. The goal is not only about the immediate pursuit of performance, but also about building a solid foundation for the development of our future prototypes in order to be able to match and even improve on the results achieved in the Combustion category.
The biggest challenge concerns the whole traction, power and cooling system of the car; the Team decides to proceed step by step focusing for this first year only on the development of the battery pack, in which there are 660 cells (divided into 132 elements in series with 5 cells in parallel for each element), on the implementation of the cooling system, paying great attention to the cooling jackets, and of the BMS (Battery Management System) boards. Four AMK motors, the most common choice among Formula Student EV teams, were then purchased, as well as inverters, which were then upgraded.
The electronics, developed entirely in-house, also saw the evolution of key boards such as the Data Acquisition Unit (DAU) in order to eliminate defects that had emerged in previous seasons and the addition of new boards to adapt the car to the regulations of the new race class. Fundamental is the implementation of Torque Vectoring, the algorithm that distributes drive torque to the four wheels.
A further strength of the electric design is the possibility of taking advantage of regenerative braking, which has led to the modification of the braking system and, more generally, of the entire pedal system.
The kinematics and elasticity of the suspension were entirely revised, this led to structural changes such as optimizing the stiffness of the arms, modifying the center of gravity and creating a new steering line while also eliminating the old universal joints and the play created by them.
Aerodynamically, there was a change from a configuration with side wings and low nose to one with a high nose and aerodynamic bottom with diffuser.
After the design phase, the team managed to win participation in FSN (Netherlands), FSATA (Italy) and, after many years, also FSA (Austria) competitions.
Unfortunately, just as we were entering the manufacturing phase, the Covid-19 pandemic forced everyone home and prevented us from working in the workshop.
Reinventing ourselves is essential! Precisely for this reason, the entire Team moves entirely to virtual platforms starting a real smart working activity in order not to stop work.
One by one, all competitions are cancelled. FSEast and FSN organize the first online Formula Student event: FSOnline. Team DynamiΣ PRC thus decides to participate in the first virtual race in the history of Formula Student!
Some race events are modified, others reinvented: the dynamic tests are in the simulator, while the Cost Event is transformed into the Concept Design Challenge, an event that is an engineering innovation challenge evaluated from design to actual economic feasibility. Of course, it is not the same as being physically trackside, but the preparation is meticulous and each and every event is strongly felt and attended by all team members.
The first year in the electric category sees the team take first place in the Business Plan Presentation and Concept Design Challenge, third place in the Fun Activities, and a proud fourth place in the Design Event. The proclamation of the Overall ranking continues the trail of excitement: the DynamiΣ PRC Team is third in the EV class of FSO!
After an undoubtedly difficult season and after the great results achieved, the groundwork has already been laid for the Team’s future in the Electric class. With the start of classes and the reopening of the universities, manufacturing of the DP12e will continue in September 2020, and then finally return to the track for the testing phase.
Season 2019
The DP11 project was born with a very specific goal: to win!
After the past seasons, the team has now achieved full awareness of its potential and now aspires to the top step of the podium.
The design of the new single-seater starts from the solid base of the 2018 project. The DPX, in fact, showed very good performance but with some potential left unexpressed due to the few kilometers driven in the track testing phase and, above all, the lack of optimization of all components due to the scarcity of time available.
One of the most important aspects and what the team has focused on in the 2019 season is weight reduction. Compared to last season, almost 15kg was saved, allowing us to gain almost half a second per lap. Through the use of higher performance materials and challenging lamination optimization, the frame has gone from 27kg in 2018 to about 20kg in 2019. Another major contribution is the 3-spoke carbon rims. Completely designed and manufactured in-house, they stop the scales at only 1.7 kg compared to about 2.5 kg for the magnesium OZ wheels.
The DP11 always rides an Aprilia SXV 550 twin-cylinder naturally aspirated engine, an engine that the team was able to take full advantage of by finding a perfect setup for its needs.
The electronics are completely developed in-house, and the car is equipped with a telemetry system that allows the most important parameters to be monitored at all times during the race. In addition, a data acquisition system makes it possible to analyze the performance of the single-seater and find the optimal set-ups for each race event.
During the 2019 season, the DynamiΣ PRC takes part in four Formula Student competitions: FSN, FSEast, FSATA and FSG, succeeding in achieving the goal it originally set. This was the most successful year in the team’s history.
The Assen circuit saw us on the podium in every event and crowned us overall winners, for the first time, in the Combustion category.
In Hungary, on the other hand, a technical problem forced the Team to retire during the Endurance, but we still managed to win a seventh place overall thanks to our excellent results in the static tests.
Back in Italy, in our home race, we again conquered that much sought-after peak: Varano De Melegari saw us again winning overall.
And finally, at FSG, we achieved the record of being the only Italian team to stand, with a third place Overall, on the podium of the Hockenheimring.
Thanks to the excellent results achieved during the 2019 season, Team DynamiΣ took fourth place in the Formula Student world rankings among the approximately 600 Combustion teams.
Season 2018
To achieve tangible results, the team focuses on reliability
DPX was born with the knowledge that it has behind it a Team that in recent years has shown, season after season, that it has made great strides in all areas. Over the past five years, Team DynamiΣ PRC has expanded greatly, welcoming new members who have allowed the different cars that have succeeded each other over the past seasons to be increasingly competitive year after year.
As we come to the end of the 2018 season, we can confirm that the expectations for growth and hopes that DP9 left at the end of the 2017 season, the most fruitful so far in the team’s history, have been confirmed by DPX, thanks to the determination of all team members and the team’s historical sponsors.
A great contribution also came from new supporters, who see Formula SAE not only as a race for its own sake, but also as a learning experience to get involved and thus an adventure characterized by enthusiasm and passion for confronting young people and their vision of what the automotive world can become.
Team DynamiΣ participated with the DPX in events in Italy, the Czech Republic and Germany. In all competitions the new car proved to be in the top 10 of the best.
In Italy, the Team achieved a fourth place just a whisker away from the podium in the final standings of the event, in which 84 teams participated, and came first among the fourteen Italian teams, achieving two second places in the Skidpad and Design Event.
At the end of the event in the Czech Republic, the team placed sixth, achieving significant results with a first place in the Skidpad and obtained a third place in the Autocross.
Finally, in Hockenheim, Germany, DPX took eighth place in a competition with more than 100 teams from around the world.
With these results, the team has shown that it has consolidated the progress made in the past years and therefore has the ability to continue to grow thanks to a team, which, year after year, progressively increases its skills through experience and demonstrates that it has the ability to be able to build stronger and stronger trusting relationships with its sponsors.
Season 2017
Team growth continues on all fronts
The year 2017 brought with it great progress and satisfaction. The Team acquired about 30 new members selected from more than 300 applicants from all over the University, maintaining the number of about 90 team members achieved in 2016.
The Team’s Sports Management department was reorganized to allow the emergence of a section dedicated specifically to the preparation of the Business Plan, one of the three Static Competition Events.
The DP8 evolves into the DP9, a higher-performance single-seater that is able to express the potential that its ancestor had not been able to externalize, despite its good results. Greater reliability, an electronic system among the most developed in the category, a carbon fiber monocoque and a telemetry Ground Station are the key points that allowed the leap in quality.
Nonetheless, time remained the fiercest enemy to fight against: in both the design and test phase and in the race, deadlines were key constraints in the success of the project.
Dynamis took part in races in Italy, held at Varano de’ Melegari; in Germany at the historic Hockenheim circuit; and – for the first time – in Austria, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, succeeding in all three cases in the difficult task of finishing the Endurance, the toughest and most important of the tests.
The Team won some special prizes offered by two Main Sponsors promoting the events, which contributed to the growth of Team DynamiΣ PRC’s name: in Italy “Endurance and Fuel Efficiency by Abarth” and “Opel Style Award” in Germany.
The season resulted in formative experiences both from a technical point of view concerning the car, constantly subjected to the race events, and on a personal level having stimulated cooperation between members even from different teams.
Concluding the most fruitful year so far in the team’s history, the goal set for the 2018 season was to continue the continuous progress of the past few years in such a way as to express the potential that still remained muted in the 2017 season.
Season 2016
The turning point that marks the beginning of growth
While at first glance it may simply appear to be an evolution of the previous DP7 with the addition of a full aerodynamic package, the DP8 marks a distinct turning point for the Polytechnic University of Milan team. There are revolutions on almost every front: a new suspension kinematics, a change from 2 to 4 shock absorbers, the creation of a complete monocoque, and many other innovations.
The enormous amount of work involved in the design and implementation of this new single-seater means that only 3 days before the first race of the season, during the first real track outing at the Franciacorta racetrack in the company of the Brescia and Padua teams, the DP8 is still without bellies, wings and livery.
In the following days (and nights), the car is finished and tested again, arriving ready for the Formula SAE Italy event at Varano de’ Melegari.
The DP8 amazes everyone immediately: first for its beauty and attention to detail, then for its speed on the track. It is one of the most competitive cars at the event, and the race pace demonstrated in the Endurance test is confirmation of this. Unfortunately, the effects of the few miles driven during testing come out just after the driver change, and overheating of the engine systems leads to a premature retirement of the single-seater.
With a lack of an overall podium in the home race, but with a lot of confidence in the new car, given also by the Lamborghini award for the best use of carbon fiber and the Style & Execution award sponsored by FCA, the DynamisPRC leaves for the Formula Sae Germany event in Hockenheim against the best teams in the world.
Despite the very high level of the event, the team places very well in all the tests, especially in the Design Event and Skidpad, but again temperature problems taint the performance at the Endurance. This time the problem is the head gasket, and the DP8 proceeds at an increasingly reduced pace, until on the last lap the engine shuts down completely. The urge to finish the race is such that it runs the last 100 meters on the sole power of the starter motor, to the applause of the crowd.
The moment of redemption is expected in Spain at Montmeló, as all temperature-related problems are finally solved, but 2016 is not a lucky year for Team DynamiΣ. During the Endurance test, both a suspension uniball and the DP8’s dreams of glory are broken. However, its legacy will be a very important new starting point for the team’s future.
Season 2015
DynamiΣ PRC returns to compete beyond national borders
The most important peculiarity of the DP7 is its carbon fiber monocoque, the result of a new collaboration with sponsor Bercella. It is a hybrid monocoque with a rear truss frame, marking a transition point between the old and new generation of DynamiΣ cars. Since much of the team’s energy is focused on the chassis, the other components are not disrupted, so that parts from the DP6 can also be used as spares. The traditional two-shock conformation is improved by switching from the old Öhlins to the new Koni, and abandoning the roll dampers.
Another major improvement aspect of the new single-seater is the electronics, with the return of the electro-actuated steering wheel-mounted gearbox and a new clutch control system.
Although without a full aerodynamic package, the bellies are specially designed to generate downforce without neglecting radiator cooling-an important step forward for the development of future prototypes.
The DP7 figures well in the first event of the season in Hockenheim, an away race that marks the team’s return to competing beyond national borders, but finds great difficulty in the Autocross given the great difference in grip between the asphalt found in the race and that of the test track. The setup is completely overhauled and the car is ready the following day to demonstrate its full potential during the Endurance.
The car, which the day before seemed slow and very difficult to drive, is now precise and very fast, but the comeback is interrupted by the breakage of a component of the gear linkage. DP7 gets stuck in second gear, but this does not prevent it from lapping other cars in the race at that time.
At the time of the driver change, although the team’s only concern is to resume the race by starting in second gear, the judges notice an oil leak due to the high engine speeds sustained by the last laps, and decide for safety reasons to prevent DP7 from finishing the race.
DP7 does not miss what it deserves at the Varano de’ Melegari event, and after a flawless weekend crowned by a second place in the Design Event, it gives DynamiΣ PRC the title of best Italian team, and fifth overall in the entire event.
Season 2014
The Team’s determination and passion manifest themselves in the most difficult moments
The new team, after the race experience at Varano with the DP5, begins to set increasingly ambitious goals, first among them: a carbon fiber monocoque. The budget is not enough to create one to perfection, but this does not stop the DynamiΣ chassis makers who decide to build a paneled one.
The car is also shortened and the track width is reduced compared to the previous car, the ergonomics of the cockpit is redone from scratch, and a lever gearbox is installed instead of the electro-actuated one that is still not 100 percent reliable, but the two-shock absorber system coupled with QT-Limite kinematics, which has been a hallmark of the Milan team for years now, is retained.
The result is a car that has very high potential and seems to fly compared to the DP5. With angular lines, a menacing black livery and a tricolor hinted at on the sides: the DP6 shows up ready for the starting gates at Varano de’ Melegari.
After passing technical inspections, Tilt Test, Noise Test, and receiving praise from the judges during static tests, the DP6 is about to perform Brake Test, normal practice before dynamic tests.
Something goes wrong… at the moment of braking, a loud bang is heard from the stands, and the left front wheel detaches from the rest of the car, freezing the stares of the whole Team.
The hard-point bonding has failed, leaving in its place a hole in the monocoque the size of a 2€ coin. It looks like the end, but the judges, along with Bercella’s engineers, give advice to the Team on how to repair the damage, even granting the necessary structures and materials.
After a few hours in the lab at Bercella’s, a run to Milan to get parts from DP5, and a late night, the next morning DP6 is back on 4 wheels, risen like a Phoenix, with aluminum plates glued and bolted to the monocoque to give new attachment points for the suspension.
It’s Brake Test time again and the whole team is holding its breath, but fate is having none of it. A brace welded in to replace a carbon one broken the day before gives way, and the front left comes off again. Another all-nighter, more spare parts, another suspension to be rebuilt, but this time with the sturdiest parts that can be salvaged with the help of the other teams.
For the third time the DP6 shows up at the Brake Test, with a steel triangle worthy of a small hatchback, but with a shear-mounted uniball: there was no other way to mount that suspension.
And it is precisely the uniball that gives way this time, putting an end once and for all to a seesaw of emotions that taught us so much, but perhaps … not all evils come to harm.
Season 2013
The second first race
The base of the newly rebuilt team is beginning to take root, but there is still a lot of work to be done, and there are many more people joining DynamiΣ at the beginning of the season. As testing continues, it becomes clear how painful but right the decision to not go racing back in 2012 had been, and the car continues to improve.
Varano time arrives, and the DP5 immediately looks well built and cared for, albeit wider and longer than its competitors. Static tests go well, and even in Acceleration and Skidpad the car does not fare badly. Then, as often happens in September in the province of Parma, the weather suddenly changes, and rain tactics begin to stir the paddock.
DynamiΣ gets a combination of set-up and asphalt conditions right, and the wide track gives the DP5 incredible control in the wet. With an Autocross run all sideways, the car manages to juggle the cones where so many teams spin out, moving closer to the top 10 overall.
The drivers are eager to repeat the performance at the Endurance, but during the course reconnaissance they realize something is wrong: there are two very tight hairpins on the track that the DP5, with its pace and track width, will never be able to handle. The only solution is to do all the hairpins in oversteer, but the hot, dry weather will make things much more difficult than the day before. The flat is difficult, but not impossible, and the hairpins come better and better lap after lap, until the gearbox gets stuck in third.
You need first gear to do the sweeping hairpins, but amazingly they succeed in third as well. The problem is that the engine revs too low and on exiting the second hairpin the car shuts down.
Clutch, gear paddle, and starter motor are not enough to get the car to unlock third or restart, and the team is forced to retire.
As the first race after the revival, the Team has learned a lot, but it is only the first step toward increasingly competitive cars.
Season 2012
Rebirth
It is rebirth time for Team DynamiΣ PRC. There is very little left from the previous year: the old team members can be counted on the fingers of one hand, there is no machine and no project. The so-called “old guard”‘s first tasks are to train a staff and pass on know-how to the new ones.
There is a lot to do, but the freshmen in the team are not intimidated, and the work, which is divided by departments, proceeds for months in front of PC screens, where the single-seater begins to take shape in the cad.
The first parts begin to arrive, first and foremost the chassis: the nerve center of the new car: it is a steel tube truss on which the entire car will be mounted.
The most important features of the newborn are carbon-fiber seat and fairings, rapid prototyping steering wheel and airbox, aluminum hub carriers and hubs, electro-actuated sequential gearbox and clutch, QT-limit suspension with roll dampers, and a cantilever differential.
It sounds like an overly ambitious project for kids taking part in Formula Student for the first time, but one by one the pieces fall into place. The snags are there, but they manage to be solved, thanks also to the encouragement of people like Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Zanardi, guests of the Polytechnic to whom the team had the honor of showing the car in progress.
The newborn is finished at the last, just a few days before the Varano race, but there is no time to test it. The team is anxious to see the fruits of their labor compete against other universities, but they must keep their feet on the ground. The regulations only allow each car to be used for one year, and if something goes wrong the DPRC 012 would have a very short life.
It is a difficult decision for the Milan Polytechnic students to make, but curbing their enthusiasm and giving up going to Varano de’ Melegari might be the right choice to develop the car to bring its full potential to the race, even if it is a year later.
From 2004 to 2010
The beginnings of DynamiΣ PRC Team.
The Team was established at the suggestion of some doctoral students who asked Professor Francesco Braghin to start Team DynamiΣ PRC as a research project.
In these first years, the Team consists exclusively of doctoral students and thesis students. In this way, however, every year the project starts from scratch precisely because the Team changes completely at the level of human resources: there was no real transfer of knowledge or continuous development of prototypes.
The single-seaters of this period featured a tubular steel chassis. The engine was a single-cylinder Husqvarna engine until 2008; later the Aprilia SXV, a twin-cylinder 4-stroke engine, would be fitted, accompanying the Team with all Combustion machines until 2019.
The Team immediately gets involved in the international arena already in its early years. In 2004 it participates in Formula Student UK in Class C, where only the engineering design of the prototype is evaluated. By 2005, the Team will be able to complete the manufacturing of the single-seater, allowing it to take to the track to compete with cars from other universities.
The inexperience of the young DynamiΣ PRC is evident compared to more experienced teams, and in general, the Team does not achieve great results in the field during this period due to the limited development of the car and the few human and economic-financial resources.
Difficulties in growth and progress, mainly due to the structure and method of work, cause both students and professors to lose interest in pursuing the project. The Team is closed in 2010 only to be recreated and structured as we know it today in 2011: composed of only students who pass on knowledge and passion from year to year.