Find out how the Ecurie Aix team from RWTH Aachen University is making its mark in Formula Student with the help of a multi-purpose transport trolley based on item profile technology.
The racing car accelerates incredibly fast – from 0 to 100 km/h in around 2.3 seconds. That’s faster than a Porsche 911 (the 911 Turbo S takes 2.5 seconds). Welcome to the world of Formula Student, an international university competition in which committed teams race cars they have built themselves. Success is measured based on the teams’ performance in various disciplines, both on the race track and in areas such as engineering, budget planning and business plan presentation.
Founded in 1999, Ecurie Aix from RWTH Aachen University is the second-oldest team in Germany and a true institution. Its name pays homage to the region’s motorsport heritage, with the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit located just an hour from Aachen. “Ecurie” means “racing team” and “Aix-la Chapelle” is the French name for Aachen. The team enters a new car in the competition each year, and Team 2024/2025 has been highly successful with its eax04 model. A transport trolley based on item profile technology has been a permanent feature along the way.
Another year, another prototype – that’s how the Formula Student season works
Teams must design and build a new car within the space of one year, always a prototype. They get started in September, and the event phase commences around July of the following year. “We don’t have almost year-round races like in Formula 1. Instead, our racing season lasts just two months and consists of three events. Given that the cars are prototypes, they never race against each other on the track at the same time – they’re too valuable for that,” explains Darren McCorry, who was responsible for partner support/sponsorship at Ecurie Aix during the 2024/25 season.
eax04 in action – successful, electric and autonomous
The team’s latest racing car – eax04 – came first in the “Autocross” discipline at Formula Student Austria in Spielberg and was two seconds faster than any other car in the race. “That’s a big gap in Formula Student,” emphasises McCorry. Taking place on a track around 800 metres long with various bends and straights, the Autocross event represents a particular challenge for the racing cars.
Ecurie Aix also did exceptionally well in Czechia, where the team secured first place in the “Driverless Acceleration” discipline. From a standing start, the cars must drive autonomously to the finish line 75 metres away. Ecurie Aix’s cars are now electric and can be controlled both manually and autonomously. One particular feature of the team is its combination of technical excellence and sportsmanship. In Czechia, for instance, the students helped out another team by providing urgently needed equipment that enabled this other team to finish top in one of the disciplines. Ecurie Aix’s biggest success this season came at Formula Student Germany at the Hockenheimring circuit, where the team finished second in the overall ranking.
Being ready to help others comes naturally to us and reflects the true spirit of Formula Student. It’s all about learning and design engineering, not beating the rest.
“Being ready to help others comes naturally to us and reflects the true spirit of Formula Student. It’s all about learning and design engineering, not beating the rest,” says McCorry. Around half of the team’s members are bidding farewell to Ecurie Aix at the end of the current season. They are required to leave the competition after five years to make way for new talent. However, their voluntary commitment and the practical experience they have gained mean members of Ecurie Aix go on to enjoy excellent prospects in the automotive industry.
Ecurie Aix’s multi-purpose transport trolley in permanent use
A trolley made from aluminium profiles accompanies the Ecurie Aix team during all tests, races and other events. This trolley has compact dimensions (1.26 m long, 0.72 m wide and 1.10 m high) and weighs just 96 kg, making it an ideal transport solution. “We don’t need ten people to carry our equipment – just one person to push the trolley. It’s a bit like a mobile command centre,” says McCorry.
The trolley serves numerous purposes, providing a work surface for laptops, open compartments for boxes and a drawer from the item drawer system to keep things tidy. The bottom part of the trolley has sufficient space for larger objects such as fans, tyres and cordless drivers.
Customisation is a key focal point at item. Everything can be modified easily.
The Groove Plate Profiles on three sides of the transport trolley are an especially practical feature. Accommodating holders for articles such as workshop documents, high-visibility vests, umbrellas, pens and drinking bottles, they keep everything within easy reach.
The item building kit principle makes the trolley very flexible when it comes to modifications. “Customisation is a key focal point at item. Everything can be modified easily. For example, we needed to alter the distance between the compartments and were able to do so quickly using a hex key, without changing the design,” explains McCorry.
Intuitive design engineering, quick delivery and straightforward assembly
Ecurie Aix has used our profile technology before. The transport trolley from a previous season is still in working order, for instance. It dates back ten years, though, and requirements relating to dimensions and features have changed since then. Even so, the members of the current team were won over by the quality and durability of the profiles.
Ecurie Aix therefore opted to use item again this time round. Osman Seref acted as the team’s contact at item. He is the member of our Area Sales Management section responsible for the Aachen, Krefeld and Mönchengladbach region. “The collaboration went extremely smoothly. I was delighted to be involved in such an interesting project and to actively support the engineers of the future,” says Seref.
The item Engineeringtool is easy to use. I’d say even someone without an engineering background would get to grips with it intuitively. You very quickly learn how it works.
After a brief introduction to the item Engineeringtool, McCorry was able to use it to design the trolley. “The tool is easy to use. I’d say even someone without an engineering background would get to grips with it intuitively. You very quickly learn how it works,” he comments. Whenever they had questions, the Ecurie Aix team could rely on their customer adviser, who visited their workshop on several occasions. A number of design details were fine-tuned, for example.
Due to the tight schedule, quick delivery was also important. The trolley needed to be available in time for the racing car’s test phase. Everything got done in time. “It took less than a week to deliver our order. We then used the assembly guide to build the trolley – a straightforward process that was completed within two days,” reveals McCorry.
The Ecurie Aix team from RWTH Aachen University is a long-established participant in Formula Student. Find out more about this successful team right now!
