by Michaela Holzinger, Christina Pschorr
After two intense weeks of competition in the Netherlands and Austria, the Weasels deserved a little break to recharge their batteries for their third competition in Czechia. As it turned out, this short break was just what they needed to recharge their batteries and show what they were made of at the Autodrom Most!
The team was able to prove its skills during the technical inspections on the first two days. The Weasels collected their first stickers on Tuesday during mechanical scrutineering, battery scrutineering and EV scrutineering. The pre-inspection of the driver equipment and driver egress also went smoothly. Everything also went according to plan on the second day of Formula Student Czech Republic: the team completed scrutineering with successful tilt, rain and brake tests.
In Czech Republic, the Weasels from Joanneum Racing Graz once again demonstrated their strength in the static disciplines: on Wednesday, the Business Plan Weasels gave their presentation and once again managed to convince the jury with their concept. In the third competition in a row, the team reached the final of the business plan presentations! Finally, on Thursday, the Engineering Design and Cost & Manufacturing Event was on the agenda. Another reason to celebrate: the Engineering Design Team also made it to the final round for the third time.
However, Thursday was not just about static disciplines; for the first time, the JR24 could be seen in action at FS Czech. In their first attempt at acceleration, the racing car and its driver already achieved a promising time, which made everyone even more excited about the next day’s races.
On Friday, the Weasels were able to put what they had learned from previous competitions into practice. In the three dynamic disciplines held that day – acceleration, skid pad and autocross – the JR24 was the fastest car on the track, making the team the ones to beat!
The final day of Formula Student Czech Republic was all about the concluding Endurance Event. Thanks to its outstanding time in the autocross, the JR24 crossed the starting line late on Saturday afternoon. After 22 thrilling kilometres and a successful driver change, the driver crossed the finish line in the racing car and secured victory in Endurance. The JR24 and the Weasels were unbeatable in this dynamic discipline too! The fastest 22 kilometres of the competition also earned the team an excellent third place in Efficiency.
At this point, the Weasels were allowed to start dreaming. The last few hours before the award ceremony were filled with hope and speculation. In the end, what no one had dared to say before was confirmed: the Weasels took first place in the overall standings and thus clinched their first overall victory with the JR24 – a dream come true!
With six first places, one third place and one seventh place, the team not only became the overall winner, but also achieved an astonishing 983.07 out of 1000 points!
In addition, the Weasels won the Garrett Powertrain Innovation Award for their innovative drive concept and can now look forward to a trip to the Garrett plant in Brno!
With these successes under their belt, the team set off on Sunday for the return journey to Graz, where they immediately threw themselves into preparations for our final competition in Italy.
At the end of the season, the Weasels headed to Formula ATA in Varano de Melegari (ITA) in the first week of September. The Autodromo Varano had fond memories of the team from their years in the combustion engine class, and even on their first appearance in this competition with an electric racing car, the track proved to be fertile ground – or rather, asphalt – for success.
After the seven-hour journey from Graz and setting up our camp, the first official day of competition began with the technical inspections. The Weasels completed the scrutineering without any major problems, which gave them enough time for their first laps on the test track and to prepare for the static disciplines. The Business Plan Weasels kicked off the static disciplines with their usual confident performance, advancing to the finals of the top three teams the following day. The Engineering Design and Cost and Manufacturing events also took place on this day. Here, too, Joanneum Racing Graz was able to demonstrate its strength and collect valuable points for the overall standings.
Once the static disciplines were complete, the JR24 finally took to the race track. On the first day of the dynamic disciplines, acceleration, skid pad and autocross were on the agenda. In the morning, the drivers in the JR24 achieved very good times in acceleration and skid pad – even without fans, as these were prohibited by the event regulations and therefore had to be removed.
The Weasels were able to achieve top performances again in the afternoon. They were delighted to set the fastest time in autocross on their first attempt and then significantly beat that time in the subsequent runs. Only one other team was faster on that day, snatching the discipline victory from them by a tenth of a second.
The final day marked the last endurance race of the JR24 and thus also the end of this year’s Formula Student season. Unlike other events, the fastest teams in the autocross event started right at the beginning. As with the entire competition, the Weasels were able to complete the endurance run almost without a hitch – had it not been for a pylon catching on the JR24 after one and a half laps. The reverse starting order also proved to be an advantage: just a few minutes after the chequered flag was waved for Joanneum Racing Graz, persistent rain set in, which almost all of the following teams had to contend with.
The Weasels then learned the final results at the closing award ceremony. In the static disciplines, they were delighted to win silver in Cost and Manufacturing and bronze with their business plan – they narrowly missed out on the podium in Engineering Design, finishing fourth by just one point. In the dynamic disciplines, they celebrated victory in Efficiency and second place in Autocross and Skidpad. With our second place in Skidpad, we were also part of a very special Austrian triple victory together with the teams from Graz University of Technology and the University of Innsbruck. Two fourth places in Acceleration and Endurance underlined our strong performance in this competition. In the overall standings, we were the best Austrian team, finishing second among all teams in the Electric Class.
For us Weasels, this was the crowning glory of a very successful season and a great incentive for the new 2024/25 season. Preparations for this began the day after we returned from Italy – true to our motto: NEVER STOP PUSHING!
© 2025 Joanneum Racing Graz – All rights reservedÂ
