Formula Student brings motorsport to life: vehicles designed by students compete against each other – including the cars of Mainfranken Racing Team from THWS. The student team can look back on a successful season that initially presented seemingly insurmountable hurdles. Find out here why they decided to completely redesign the vehicle for upcoming competitions.
Published on 02 February 2026
The aim of the Formula Student competition is to build a car within one season that impresses with both good engineering and a strong presentation. Mainfranken Racing Team from THWS is participating in both disciplines, Electric Vehicle (EV) and Driverless Vehicle (DV). "In the EV discipline, a driver still sits in the car, while in the DV discipline, the car drives without a driver and only with pre-programmed software," explains Hans Eschenbacher, second chairman and technical director of the team. "Our focus is now primarily on the driverless system because we have very competent people for programming here and therefore perform very well in competitions."
Between practical experience and personal motivation
The project gives students a lot of practical experience in vehicle construction and project management. "You basically go through all the stages of engineering work: first, an idea is developed, then sent to sponsors, assembled, and tested. I think this gives a very good idea of how that works in a company," reports Feliks Burdyugov, first chair of Mainfranken Racing Team. The team is mainly financed by sponsors – currently around 90 different companies from the industry that are of interest to aspiring engineers. Hans explains: "This naturally also gives you good contacts with potential employers. They, in turn, are happy to get engineers who have already worked in this field and also enjoy such projects."
Mainfranken Racing team currently consists of about 30 students. The core team currently consists of 15 students, most of whom spend several days a week working on the cars and programmes in the workshop. For most team members, however, working on the project is now more than just an opportunity to gain practical experience. "It's just incredibly fun to see your project come to life. When the car finally drives or when you win something and then stand on stage – it's an incredible feeling! On the other hand, you learn a lot when you realise where you can make mistakes and where you can improve," says Hans.
Not just aspiring engineers: anyone can join in!
The tasks of Mainfranken Racing Team are varied, so anyone can join in: "We do not require any previous experience. The most important thing to participate in the team is to have motivation to actually do something," says Feliks. As first chair, he is primarily responsible for organisational management and upcoming events. Therefore, students from other degree programmes are also explicitly welcome. "In the area of marketing in particular, we naturally have many important tasks: from social media to newsletters and contact with existing and new sponsors." This is important in order to be visible to the public and sponsors as a team, says Hans. In addition, this cross-programme collaboration is interesting because it allows us to constantly gain new perspectives on challenges and thus develop solutions together.
2025 season: from crash to victory
At the start of the season, the team probably had no idea what highs and lows they could expect this year. The start of the season was a bit bumpy: many of the department heads responsible for working on the vehicle itself were missing, and at the same time, sponsorship funds were cut. Nevertheless, through savings and with the help of new, passionate members, the team was able to construct a very good car for the upcoming season and present it at the so-called "roll-out" in front of friends, family, sponsors, and the public – a major milestone. After several tests and improvement cycles, the first competition in Czechia was on the agenda: "Our battery is completely self-built, so unfortunately we had a small problem in Czechia, a kind of loose connection, which is why we lost a few points in the jury's evaluation," Hans describes. At the following competition in Germany, however, Mainfranken Racing Team was able to meet its own expectations again, with the students finishing in the top third of the overall standings.
At the last competition of the season in Italy, however, the team members' nerves were put to the test once again. In the middle of the event, there was an update that changed the frequency of the data logger, i.e. the control system of the driverless vehicle. As a result, the car was sent onto the track with an unadjusted frequency: "We then crashed into a wall at 80 km/h. We had two breaks in our chassis, bearing damage and our entire front wing fell off. At that point, we thought, 'Now it's over, that's it,'" Hans recalls the hopeless situation. But instead of letting this unpredictable challenge stop them, it quickly became clear: "In Formula Student, giving up is simply not an. During a sleepless night shift, we managed to repair the entire car within 20 hours!" In fact, the team was able to get back into the competition and not only secure first place in the driverless category, but also take home the overall tournament victory. Hans recalls: "We couldn't believe it – it was an incredible feeling!"
The biggest learning? Teamwork makes the dream work!
Mainfranken Racing Team's damaged chassis was saved thanks to the help of another team, i.e. competitors in the competition. Feliks' main takeaway from this is to dare to ask for help: "Even though we are competing against each other, there is nothing wrong with helping each other as well. Because basically all the teams from all over the world are united by the same passion for motorsport." For Hans, it showed how strong the team spirit is at Mainfranken Racing: "This moment showed us that when you stick together as a team and tackle a problem instead of just complaining, you can achieve an incredible amount!"
Four-wheel drive into the new season
Despite this success, the team is certain that in order to remain competitive, they will need to significantly improve their car. Currently, the vehicles are still rear-wheel drive, but in future they will be equipped with all-wheel drive: "All of the best teams in the competitions have all-wheel drive, the engines are located directly on the wheels and can therefore deliver more power to the road – that's what we're planning now," explains technical director Hans. Feliks adds: "It brings many advantages like better car control, better turning, better acceleration." This conversion is expected to take around two years, with the new vehicle likely to be used in the 2027 season. However, the team still wants to use the competitions in the upcoming season to learn and improve its strategy: "Under the pressure of the competition, you learn a lot about your car and your team as we keep a continuity of teamwork and improve our knowledge," says Feliks, explaining the decision to participate in Formula Student again in 2026. With this amount of teamwork and passion for motorsport, the coming seasons are likely to remain just as exciting for the THWS Mainfranken Racing Team.
Mainfranken Racing and Formula Student
Mainfranken Racing e. V. is the Formula Student team of THWS constituting of committed students of different disciplines. The registered student association has existed since 2006. All THWS students can join regardless of their field of study.
Formula Student is an international engineering competition, in which interdisciplinary student teams from around the world develop, build, and present their own race car. The objective is to combine engineering, business and organisational skills in a practice-oriented way. The cars compete in events against each other, not only in dynamic disciplines on the race track but also static disciplines in project management.
The team's recent successes:
- 1st place (Formula Student Italy 2025)
- 1st plcae (Formula Student France 2024)
- 3rd place (Driverless Discipline, Formula Student Czechia 2024)
More information on Mainfranken Racing e. V.
Instagram @mainfranken_racing
This article was written as part of the master's programme in Trade Journalism and Corporate Communication.