ZEC is proud to have supported UniPR Racing Team in Formula SAE, a student design competition involving the development and production of a racing car, a challenge that involved dozens of teams from the most prestigious athenaeums at an international level in 2024.
From the team's first Sponsor Day to its participation in the MotorValley Fest in Modena, from the shakedown of the prototype on the city streets of Collecchio to the unveiling of the car at the Riccardo Paletti racetrack, up to the official competition on the Varano de Melegari circuit, there has never been a lack of our presence in support of the University of Parma students.
For the first time in its history, the University of Parma team fielded an autonomous driving car, code-named DNF24 (“Driver Not Found 24”), which allowed the students to participate in this year's Formula Student championship in the Driverless category.
Dino Zantelli, general manager of ZEC S.p.A., also intervened during the presentation of the car: “Impressed and fascinated by the project, we are honored to contribute to the team's journey in this competition. A project that comes from our territory, from the young students of our university. We believe in youth, both in sports and in research: the challenge these young students will face on the track will be a prelude to the challenges they will face every day in the world of work. We also believe a lot in the synergy between the young and 'not-so-young' people: if we combine the experience of these persons with the creativity of graduating technicians, we can surely reach the goal much more quickly.”
ZEC technology found application in this exciting project: the performance of our thermoplastic tubes proved to be the ideal solution to the engineers' requirements, and they were chosen to ensure accurate and reliable operations of onboard systems.
The extensive research and development effort on the car paid off: during the race at the Varano circuit, the team obtained important rankings in the competition trials, an extraordinary achievement considering the novelty of the autonomous driving system and the short time frame in which DNF24 was developed. The race experience was also crucial in identifying where to further develop the project and collecting valuable data to sharpen the Driverless technology.
The vision is now already focused on 2025 where the team, also thanks to our support, will bring a totally new vehicle to the race, equipped with groundbreaking technical solutions that will enable them to raise the performance bar even higher and compete alongside the best international teams.
Proud to have contributed to this project, we express our sincere congratulations to the Team for the important result achieved and our best wishes for a new and exciting racing season.
