Metz Racing Team Interview

Amira Tamam

● Introduce your team briefly.
Metz Racing Team was created in 2011 by only 4 students under the name ENIM Formula Student in order to design and build a Formula Student car at the ENIM (Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Metz). Today, the Team consists of 20 final-year engineering students who have chosen to study motorsports as it represents their passion. In 2019, the Metz Racing Team reached the record of points for a French Team with 5th place overall at Silverstone. Since then, the aim is to maintain our position at the top in our country and reach the top 100 in the Internal Combustion Category.

● Tell us about your team’s history with Formula Student.
Since 2011, we have designed and manufactured a car for each competition’s year. In 2019, the team changed his car’s philosophy by returning to a tubular frame with 4 cylinders CBR engine. It allowed us to obtain a more reliable car to finish endurance Events. We achieved this objective by finishing Silverstone and Barcelona endurances. The team is now focusing on designing a reliable and controllable car by working on mechanical grip, aerodynamics packages and power management.

● What does joining Formula Student Netherlands mean to you?
To be back at FSN after one participation in 2017 is the first opportunity for us to shine in a shaded season. We have heard a lot of great experiences from all the teams explaining the friendly atmosphere and the great track of Assen during the live event. This is why we really wanted to join this unmissable event of the Formula Student competition.

● What are your main goals for this year?
We are aiming for a top 10 in CV Class with a possible first podium, by justifying our decisions during static events which are our weakness. At the end of this season, the target is to rise from 163rd place to the top 100 on the overall ranking. In order to reach it, we have completely redesigned our car keeping in mind that we should justify our choices and fully understand our car.

● What made you think of/choose FSN?
We have chosen FSN for its live event which seems to be well organized and managed at a great track and the level of its registered teams. We were qualified last year, but unfortunately, the pandemic situation prevented us from experiencing this amazing event. We are proud to be part of it for 2021 and we think our car and our mentality will fit well in the event.

● What makes you different from the other teams?
At the beginning of the season, we are only 20 students to design our new car in our free time after class. From January, we passed to 12 students full-time to manufacture and prepare to race our single-seater. Since then, the Formula Student became our graduation project with access to the 7 600 m² machining park of our Engineering School. Therefore, our guideline is to get the best of ourselves with minimal means.

● What is your biggest achievement in Formula Student so far?
Our 2019 car, named Ariane, allowed us to become the best French team on the overall ranking with 5th place on 81 teams at FSUK where we were running the first aero package in our history.

● Describe your car in three words.
Innovative, Economic, Effective

● How did COVID-19 affect your team and how did you deal with it?
COVID-19 has firstly affected our team during the design step. We were locked down and forced to adapt our way to work by telecommuting. Despite the difficulties in cooperating between the different poles, we managed to coordinate our effort to develop our car. The second effect of the pandemic is the loss of support from some partners, which must deal with their own problems. That is why we have early decided to manufacture the majority of our parts ourselves. In addition to the aerodynamics package, this year, team members have machined 90% of our metallic parts directly at our engineering School. With this mindset, we have gained autonomy on the realization of our car at the expense of driving time before the events.

You can follow Metz Racing on their social media platforms for more updates and information.
Website: http://metzracingteam.fr/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetzRacingTeam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/metzracingteam
LinkedIn: https://fr.linkedin.com/company/metzracingteam