Has anyone been to FSAE Italy?

[RBbugBITme]

Our team is raising money to go to FSAE Italy next year. Just wondering if anyone here has experience over there? Level of competition compared to others? I saw some big names from Germany/Austria.

[RBbugBITme]

Our team is raising money to go to FSAE Italy next year. Just wondering if anyone here has experience over there? Level of competition compared to others? I saw some big names from Germany/Austria.

[Dennis Seichter]

The level of teams is quite good, a lot of the big names of the german and austrian teams are usually coming to Fiorano. There are also some quite good italian teams (Turin has been second for two years now). However, the field is not as extremely competitive as it was in Hockenheim this year.

About the event, it should be stated that this event is not really comparable to Silverstone or Hockenheim (I haven't been to any non-european event). That means, it's all a little bit chaotic, the judging results are sometimes really surprising, and this year there have been some unfair and even very dangerous situations on the track that would have never been happened at the other events I've attended.

So, if you're planning to go to Europe, the event I would recommend most is FSG at Hockenheim, since it is a extremely well organized and professional event with a lot of good teams from all over the world. Sure, Italy is fun, too, but it's just not (yet?) in the same league.

[Jan_Dressler]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dennis Seichter:
...and this year there have been some unfair and even very dangerous situations on the track that would have never been happened at the other events I've attended. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Second that. (Oil on the track? Maybe we could wave yellow flags after a while... But red flags seemed to be hard to come by, so just let the race continue. Cars that don't hit the brakes hard at the end of the acceleration track might run into the crowd, but we think that the people there should be able to hear the cars arriving...)
Nevertheless, it was great fun http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[Thomas MuWe]

As Dennis, I also just recommend to come to FSG. Well organized, quite good atmosphere, amazing fun on the camping site (pool + sauna), a lot of teams and an amazing hard competition. It is hard to finish in the top ten (we were 15th with finished endu and a 2 minutes penalty). In comparison Italy, we failed (unfortunately) the endurance and were 10th.
The italian teams are quite good(some of them) and the Turin guys are also in Germany and Silverstone.
And I can also confirm that the judging decision are very strange. Design judges judged my Business Presentation....We were 9th in the Design in Italy but won it in the UK and were 3rd in Germany....Questions like: Out of which material is your main hub were just the absolute peak of ignorance.
The advantage is, it is small and therefore you have very good contact with other teams and if you are at the international camping site you can have a lot of fun (there are 10 to 15 other teams).
The atmosphere at the competition site is amazing because you are on the home track of Ferrari.
Hopefully my answer helps you to have a clearer view where to go. And if not ask the ETS, Toronto or Wisconsin guys for their opignon about FSG.

Greetings from Graz

Thomas Müller-Werth

suspension jr08
joanneum racing graz