The most exciting part of Formula Student is going to competitions. Here you can show what you developed and built throughout the year. You experience unforgettable moments and meet interesting people from all over the world. This summer, we went to three competitions in the Czech Republic, Austria and Croatia and one pre-competition in Hungary.
Challenges Pre-competition FS Easter in Hungary
From 26 to 28 June, we competed at a pre-event in Hungary to gain our first competition experience. But already shortly before the competition, we faced the first challenge. While charging the accumulator after a testing day, the battery electronics caused a short circuit. The main fuse, two PCBs and the DCDC were damaged. Due to the high currents involved, we also decided to renew the entire high-voltage wiring in the accumulator electronics.
After some research, we found out that the Voltage Indicator PCB was most likely the reason. As the name may suggest, it measures the accumulator voltage and indicates with an LED on the accumulator housing if it exceeds 60 V. On this PCB, the traces for HV+ and HV- were drawn very close together at one point, and this was not recognized until then. Here, the voltage most likely broke through.
We had found the issue and knew that we had to fix it. But we also knew that it was just over a week until the event. We immediately made the fix, used the Blitz-Service from AISLER and hoped that it would arrive in time. AISLER didn’t let us down, and the PCBs arrived shortly before our departure. Thank you for saving us!
The car was ready for its first event, and we gained our first important experiences at the scrutineerings and in the static events, completed our first rain test and brake test, and finally, TANKIA drove its first laps on a real competition track.
Figure 1: First Rain Test in Hungary
Figure 2: Voltage Indicator PCB
Competitons in the Czech Republic and Austria
In the Czech Republic and Austria, we already saw that we had built one of the fastest cars in the competition. Sadly, bad luck had been following us around a bit. In the Czech Republic, our brake system was leaking at the expansion tanks, which led to a DSQ after we finished the Endurance. In Austria, it was very hot, and the DCDC, which supplies the low-voltage system, died due to overheating.
Figure 3: Chelsea at Formula Student Austria
Competition in Croatia
At the last competition in Croatia, we again faced some challenges. Before the races, one gearbox broke in the practice area. Normally, this means that the dynamic events of the competition are over, but not for us. We managed to replace the gearbox in the pits, and it powered Chelsea through all her dynamic events, and that very successfully.
With a second-place finish in the Static Disciplines Business Plan and Engineering Design and the Dynamics Acceleration and Autocross, a first-place finish in Endurance and Efficiency, and finally an overall victory in the Electric class, we were able to successfully wrap up the 2026 season.
Figure 4: The Team & Chelsea after victory at Formula Student Alpe Adria
Conclusion of the season 2026
Last season was full of challenges and victories, ups and downs. But we grew with every challenge, both as a team and individually. We can be proud that we built one of the fastest and most capable cars in the TU Graz Racing Team, but also in Formula Student.
The electric system of Chelsea is very reliable (aside from the DCDC incident :D) and caused relatively few problems.
We know that AISLER played a major role in this: high-quality circuit boards, efficient development thanks to short lead times, and assembly using stencils.
Thank you for your support!