On the fast track: BMA supports Lions Racing Team

On the fast track with BMA: as sponsor of the university of Braunschweig’s Lions Racing Team in the 2024 Formula Student racing season, we are providing support of a different kind – a specially manufactured part for the team’s electric racing car. 

As their new sponsoring partner, we were delighted to welcome the members of the Lions Racing Team to our workshops in the heart of Braunschweig. They gained an in-depth understanding of our manufacturing processes and found out how BMA could help with the manufacturing of parts for their new electric racing car. 

It’s not only about getting faster: a race for the best overall package 

The Lions Racing Team brings together students from a range of degree programmes at TU Braunschweig for an unusual project: within one year, they have to develop, design and build a racing car to Formula Student specifications. In this international competition, it’s not simply the fastest electric racing car that wins. Instead, it is the team with the best overall package, including design, performance and a well-thought-out business plan and marketing concept. 

What links BMA and a Formula Student racing car? 

Formula Student involves future young professionals from disciplines that are very close to our heart at BMA: mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science, business management and marketing. In addition to developing innovative solutions, they have to tackle complex challenges as an interdisciplinary team – a skill we very much value at BMA. By sponsoring the Lions Racing Team, we are opening the doors for a lively dialogue between the manufacturing sector and academia, allowing us to forge contacts with future young professionals. 

Formula Student – a competition makes history 

The Formula SAE competition was initiated in 1981 by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in the United States. Since 1998, SAE and the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) have been organising Formula Student, international tournaments for students from around the globe. One particular highlight of these racing events is Formula Student Germany. Every year, an impressive number of teams with a passion for racing meet at the Hockenheimring circuit – one of them the Lions Racing Team of TU Braunschweig. 

Design and dynamics put to the test 

The student teams have to tackle many challenges at the Hockenheimring, both static and dynamic events. Among the static disciplines of Formula Student are the preparation of a business plan, cost and manufacturing analysis and engineering design, including the design and development of an electric racing car. Aspects such as the choice of materials and the aerodynamics are optimised to develop a competitive vehicle. In the dynamic disciplines of Formula Student, vehicle performance is tested right on the racing circuit. 

Lions Racing Team: a passion for research and racing 

TU Braunschweig’s Lions Racing Team currently has 55 active members. It has qualified for Formula Student Germany and for the racing event in Switzerland. In addition to the students’ commitment to their full-time studies, they are passionate about the design of the electric racing car from Braunschweig and about competing in these events. 

Partners in the finish – BMA and the Lions Racing Team 

The monocoque of the Lions Racing Team’s electric car for the 2024 racing season is made from sandwich-structured carbon fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRP) with an aluminium honeycomb structure as the core. At only 200 kilos, this lightweight bundle of strength is powered by two 40-kW wheel hub motors. One prominent feature is its rechargeable battery, which the students have developed themselves for optimum power supply. The focus is also on BMA, who will be manufacturing the rim stars for the racing car. 

Sponsor BMA wishes Lions Racing Team best of luck 

We are thrilled to be part of this electrifying project and wish the Lions Racing Team the best of luck for the 2024 racing season!