The rubber hits the road at Hockenheim for the Coburg University racing team
The CAT racing team from Coburg University of Applied Science presents the C08 Panther, designed and built by the students themselves, at Schloss Callenberg. Among those attending the official unveiling ceremony were Stefan Krug, Coburg Plant Manager (5th from left) and Achim Oettinger, Personnel Marketing Brose Group (5th from right).
The Brose Group sponsors the Coburg university team, helping the students to get first-hand experience of design and production, and of the business aspects of automotive engineering.
On July 31, after one year of planning and design, the fully built racing car was officially unveiled at Schloss Callenberg. The C08 Panther, as the students have baptised their racing car, is a classic “monoposto” – that is, an open-cockpit single-seater with open wheels. “A fantastic achievement – the students’ enthusiasm and commitment was tangible,” said Coburg plant manager Stefan Krug, describing his impressions of the presentation ceremony. “The students learn to work towards a goal together in that the different courses of study network together to act as an interdisciplinary team,” Krug summed up the advantages of a competition like this, wishing the students “all the best for the upcoming race”.
Between August 6 and August 10, the team had for the first time to prove itself in the face of international competition. The Formula Student Germany 2008 took place on the Hockenheim circuit, with 77 teams from ten countries pitted against one another in the categories Design, Race Performance, Financial Planning and Marketing. Unfortunately, technical problems spelled elimination in the decisive race for the Coburg team, who finished in just 53rd place. For the next field trials, it’s off to Fiorano in Italy, where the CAT team will be putting their racer to the test from September 20-22.
More information is available at www.cat-racing.de.
