UNIPR Racing Team

 

UniPR Racing Team is the team of students from the University of Parma that participates in the international Formula SAE competition. The team, founded in 2007, is made up of students from various fields (engineering, economics, chemistry, medicine and others) and has grown considerably over the years, from around 10 members initially to over 80 students today.
After about ten years of competing in the combustion category, in 2018 UniPR Racing Team embarked on an ambitious project to build the University of Parma's first electric racing car, the PSR01, which made its debut in 2019 at the Formula SAE Italy event in Varano de' Melegari. Since then, the team has embarked on a path of optimisation that has culminated in impressive results. After finishing sixteenth at the FS East 2021 event at the Hungaroring, the prestigious venue of the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix, in October 2021, the team achieved a brilliant fifth place in the overall ranking during the Italian FSAE Italy stage in Varano de' Melegari, beating off formidable foreign competition and establishing itself as the second-best team in Italy. In 2022, it achieved its first top ten finish abroad in the Czech Republic. The experience gained has enabled the team to develop a new electric car for the 2022-2023 season, the PSR-23, which proved to be extremely reliable and competitive in the FSAE Italy stage: 3rd place overall in the endurance test and 8th place in the overall ranking. These excellent results have laid a solid foundation for a further step forward in terms of innovation and ambition. For the 2023/2024 season, the UniPR Racing Team will present its first self-driving car, which will compete in the Formula Student championship in the Driverless category.
 
THE FORMULA SAE
The Formula SAE is an international competition organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), which involves the design and construction of single-seater racing cars by university students from the world's most prestigious universities. Established in 1981 with the aim of giving students the opportunity to compete in a high-level engineering event, the competition is now widespread throughout the world, with dozens of annual events organised directly by the SAE in collaboration with national associations of automotive engineers and technicians. Each team of students must design, build, test and promote their prototype, which is evaluated in various types of tests ranging from dynamic performance to design and costs, culminating in the presentation of a business plan for the hypothetical commercialisation of the vehicle. The entire organisation of the team is entrusted to the students, who, supported by professors and university research groups, must face all the difficulties involved in the realisation of a complex and ambitious project, thanks to which they can grow and develop not only from a technical point of view but also in terms of interpersonal skills and teamwork.

 
The ‘UniPR Racing Team’ Group, within the Alumni e Amici Association, aims to bring together alumni of the University of Parma who, as students, were part of the UniPR Racing Team. The Group serves as a meeting place where different generations of former Team members can interact, exchange information and useful advice on their professional careers, and propose and organise events.