The event was opened by the Rector of CTU in Prague Vojtěch Petráček, who thanked all the teams for their work and results throughout the year. The deans of Faculties of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Transportation Sciences also thanked the participating teams and presented symbolic cheques to their captains. The teams will use the money to further develop their racing machines.
"The space of the campus does not allow to show the full potential of the formulas, but the spectators were still enthusiastic about the dynamic atmosphere. Of course, we took care of the safety of the spectators," said Veronika Danadová, spokesperson for the eForce team, which consists mainly of students from Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Czech Technical University.
The eForce Prague Formula team showed off its latest car, the CTU.24 - a fully electric formula with autonomous features, which was created after the merger of the CTU CarTech and eForce FEE Prague Formula teams. Older formula models were also on the track. "In total, at one moment, there were 5 formulas on the track, namely the 10-year-old FSE.04x, FSE.07, FSE.09, the combustion-engine FS.15 and the latest CTU.24," summarized Jan Cába, head of the eForce team.
With the current eForce model, the team has been successful in the autonomous categories in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy this summer. The eForce presented a brand new concept car, including improved aerodynamics, in June this year.
The CTU Lions team from Faculty of Transportation Sciences showed off the third generation of its EVO 3.0 Electric motorcycle during Race Day, which features a water-cooled engine that allows for an increase in power up to 40 kW. Team leader Vojtěch Thums said the 2024 was not a race season for the team, but a development and testing season. CTU Lions is preparing a new model of the bike, which will hit the tracks in 2025.
"For example, we are looking at a possible new form of battery box and a new motorcycle concept. Up until now we have had a primary and a secondary transmission, now we would like to do just the primary. This will save weight," Thums explained some of the planned changes.
The CTU Lions motorcycles did not race today due to unfavourable weather. The team was busy with static motorcycle demos and recruiting new members. Likewise, the eForce team invites all CTU male and female students who are interested in the design and development of autonomous electric vehicles to join their ranks.
The event offered a unique opportunity to see these powerful machines in motion outside the closed test facilities. "It was another great demonstration of the students' abilities and their determination to push the boundaries of technology," concluded Jan Cába.