Right up until shortly before the start, work was in full swing in the racing team’s workshop: even on the day of the event, the team was highly focused as they applied the final decals, assembled components and laid cables. An hour before the start, the vehicle was finally wheeled into Lecture Theatre S 054 at OTH Regensburg. When the doors opened to around 200 guests on the evening of Wednesday 3 June 2026, it was still shrouded in secrecy: the “RP26 e/d”, the new, fully electric and autonomous racing car from the Formula Student team Dynamics e.V.
The evening was hosted by the presenting duo Christian Mann and Laura Glossner, who used an interactive live quiz to give the audience the lowdown: the club competes in Formula Student, the world’s largest student engineering competition, in which teams race against one another in cars they have built themselves. The figures show that the Regensburg team is right up there with the best: 12 different degree programmes, 51 event participations since 2008 and currently 51st place in the world rankings.
Formula Student team deeply rooted in Regensburg
The prominence of the visitor also demonstrated just how deeply rooted the club is within the university and the city of Regensburg. OTH President Prof. Dr Ralph Schneider emphasised his close relationship with the team: “It is very important to me to be here today. Around 100 students are working together here across faculty boundaries, disciplines and the university as a whole. That makes me particularly proud.”
Regensburg’s Lord Mayor, Dr Thomas Burger, was also impressed by the team’s innovative spirit. He emphasised that the city of Regensburg was proud to have the Dynamics team as a real flagship. Not only does this raise the city’s international profile far beyond its borders, but it also fits perfectly with Regensburg’s reputation as a hub for high-tech and innovation.
Technical details
In an interview, technical directors Yannick Pleitner and Daniel Lambrecht highlighted just how much attention to detail has gone into the RP 26 e/d. For autonomous operation, the racing car’s sensors capture a digital map of its surroundings, which the system uses for navigation. Another new feature is a braking control system that allows for more precise regulation of energy recovery whilst driving. New regulations from Formula Student even made changes to the aerodynamics necessary. The team had to redesign parts of the car and carry out numerous simulations to fine-tune its handling once again. A glance inside the car reveals just how complex the overall system is: hundreds of cables connect the race car’s control units. Every single connection must fit perfectly, as even the smallest errors can bring the entire system to a standstill.
A project that forges talent
In his speech, overall team leader Thomas Simbeck recalled the many challenging phases of the project: “We know full well that we’re not the easiest project on campus. Sometimes it smells of resin, sometimes you hear the sound of milling, and sometimes there are bits lying about that make you wonder: is that art or can it go? But it is precisely in this environment that practical engineering skills and the young talents of tomorrow are forged.”
For the RP 26 e/d, the real work is only just beginning. Extensive test drives and optimisations are on the agenda for the coming weeks, to ensure the new racing car is perfectly prepared for the upcoming international driverless events.
