Democritus Racing Team Interview

Amira Tamam

“Introduce your team briefly.”

Democritus Racing Team (DRT) represents Democritus University of Thrace, located in the city of Xanthi, in the northeastern part of Greece. Our vision is to create an incubator of knowledge and technological advancement within our university, providing its students with the opportunity to experience formula student.

 

“Tell us about your team’s history with Formula Student.”

DRT was founded in 2015 and, after establishing itself within the educational community, created its first race car, Argo, in 2019. Argo’s first entry in a Formula Student competition took place in Italy in the same year ranking 22nd overall and notably 2nd in the Endurance event. Throughout the design and manufacturing of our racecar, reliability and performance were the two key objectives, which were further realized through the changes made for the upcoming FSN competition.

 

“What does joining Formula Student Netherlands mean to you?”

Our first entry in FSN marks an important milestone for the team, since it gives us the opportunity to develop by participating in a very competitive race, in a historic circuit for the motorsport community and within a competition that’s been known to provide feedback and guidance to the teams at every step of the way.

 

“What are your main goals for this year?”

Our overall aim is to significantly improve our standing compared to our last season, in both the static and the dynamic events. More specifically, we aim to achieve stronger results and perhaps a podium in the static events and also complete the endurance!

 

“What made you think of/choose FSN?”

For us, competing in FSN was always an objective both because of its organization and track layout and because of the level of the teams competing.

 

“What makes you different from the other teams?”

Being new to Formula Student, we have had to overcome many setbacks in order to achieve notable results. However, all of that has managed to mold us into an agile and efficient team that strives for constant growth. The team was founded by eight industrial engineering, students and it now counts over 50 active members, belonging to all departments of the engineering school of DUTh. So, one might say that constant growth and innovation are our driving forces.

 

“What is your biggest achievement in Formula Student so far?”

Argo, our race car, ranked 22nd overall in FSAE Italy and more specifically 2nd in the Efficiency event, outranking many experienced teams.

 

“Describe your car in three words.”

Fast, Efficient, Impressive.

 

“How did COVID-19 affect your team and how did you deal with it?” 

As with any other student team, the pandemic took a toll mostly on the car’s manufacturing process as well as the team’s morale. In an effort to keep everyone safe we focused on digitizing and adapting to the new reality. The team took the time to re-organize in order to achieve maximum efficiency and our approach towards our sponsors was changed in favour of a more professional and online-friendly outlook. Furthermore, our design and simulation approach was updated in order to achieve a more innovative result.

 

 

You can follow DRT on their social media platforms for more updates and information:

Website: www.democritusracingteam.com

Linkedin: Democritus Racing Team – DRT (https://www.linkedin.com/company/democritus-racing-team)

Facebook: Democritus Racing Team – DRT

Instagram: democritus_racing