Blog entry by Media & MK MotoStudent
More than 800 university students from 19 countries have converged on the Alcañiz circuit in this 7th Edition, creating an extraordinary atmosphere. Over the course of the five days of competition, more than 7,000 people have visited MotorLand Aragón.
MotoStudent, a competition organized by the MEF Foundation in collaboration with TechnoPark MotorLand, concluded on Sunday, marking an edition that will go down in history. Nearly 80 universities participated in this edition, surpassing the just over 70 from the previous edition. This number has been steadily increasing since the first edition held in 2009-2010, in which there were 23 teams from 2 countries. It has now become a unique competition in the world where the best university engineers come together for five days to prove that the motorcycles they have developed deserve to win. Since that first edition, universities have invested more than 5.5 million euros in research and development, demonstrating the importance of the competition. Several official brands now also support the university teams. All of this takes place in a healthy, competitive environment where they all seek to learn and continue their education to eventually become part of the categories, companies, or teams that make up the world of motorsport. This year, for the first time, the "Talent RoadShow 2023" was held, where companies in the sector were looking for talent within the MotorLand Aragón paddock and, who knows, may hire the engineers of the future. Companies such as Monlau, Circe, ANESDOR, CAAR, FERSA, and MotorLand Aragón and TechnoPark MotorLand took the opportunity to travel to the circuit to collect CVs and begin building relationships for the future. In terms of the sport, on Sunday, the public enjoyed four exciting races, which, along with the tests from the previous two days, brought a lot of action to the world-class circuit.
Thrilling Races on Sunday
The day began with the different qualifying sessions to set the starting grids and the first two "repêchage" races, in which the top three qualified for the final races. In the MotoStudent Petrol category, the University of Turin (2WheelsPoliTO) arrived after dominating the free practice sessions and the qualifying session, starting from pole position ahead of Florida Moto Team (Florida Universitaria de Valencia). During the first few laps, both riders exchanged positions in a beautiful battle for the top spot. Ultimately, after overtaking two more times on the final lap, the victory went to the Italian team 2WheelsPoliTO, with Florida Universitaria in second place and Sapienza Gladiators (University of Rome) in third. In the Electric category, there was a fierce battle from the free practice sessions between UniBO Motorsport (University of Bologna) and the UMA Racing Team (University of Malaga), with the Italians ultimately securing pole position. However, in the race, the University of Malaga took the lead from the beginning and pulled away from their rivals. But luck was not on their side, as in the final lap, when they had a sufficient lead to win, their motorcycle stopped, and they couldn't continue. This allowed the Polytechnic University of Madrid (which had been in second place throughout the race) to take the lead, but their joy was short-lived as UniBo Motorsport, on the last lap, managed to overtake UPM and secured the victory, with the Madrid team finishing second and Polimi Motorcycle Factory (Politecnico di Milano) in third.
2WheelsPoliTO and UniBO MotorSport Named Best MotoStudent Petrol and Best MotoStudent Electric
Finally, after more than 16 months of work, the best universities of this 7th Edition were awarded. In the MS2 phase, the overall awards for the Best MotoStudent VII in the Electric and Petrol categories went to UniBO Motorsport and 2WheelsPoliTO, respectively. This award, which is a combination of dynamic tests and races along with industrial projects, is the highest accolade of the competition. In the Petrol category, 2WheelsPoliTO was joined on the podium by Florida Moto Team and Montan Factory Racing (Austria) as the second and third place finishers. In the Electric category, UniBO Motorsport was followed by Polimi Motorcycle Factory and UPM Motostudent Electric. In the electric category for rookies, Quartodilitro UNIPD emerged as the overall winner, while in the petrol category, Montan Factory Racing claimed the victory. In the awards related to the MS1 phase (awards for the more industrial, theoretical, and design aspects of the prototypes), in the MotoStudent Electric category, there was a clear dominator with a clean sweep in all three categories in contention. UniBO MotorSport from the University of Bologna (Italy), under the umbrella of the Fundazione Ducati, secured the title for Best Industrial Project (sponsored by CIRCE), Best Design (sponsored by DSRM), and Best Technological Innovation (sponsored by CGCOII). In the MotoStudent Petrol category, the award for the best project (presented by the Government of Aragón) went to the 2WheelsPoliTo team from the University of Turin (Italy). The award for the best design (sponsored by Dunlop) and the best innovation (sponsored by ANESDOR) also went to the THM MotorSport Friedberg team from the University of Applied Sciences Mittelhessen (Germany).
A Different Event Focused on Students' Futures with Strong Support from Institutions and Industry Companies
MotoStudent has grown continually in just over 15 years as it has completed various editions. It is a reality that leading universities want to participate in this competition, and brands and companies related to the world of motorsport also want to support it through these teams. Every year, improvements can be seen in the designs, finishes, the process of bringing the project to reality, and consequently, the fine-tuning on the MotorLand Aragón track. The prototypes that students develop are no longer far from the times of the Moto3 category in the MotoGP World Championship, and top speeds are also comparable. In this edition, speeds exceeding 210 km/h were achieved, and a new lap record was set in the Petrol category, with a time of 2:10.367. This makes it the perfect setting to create a synergy between students and motor industry companies that haven't missed the opportunity to try to attract future employees. This event already has institutional support from DORNA SPORTS (the organizer of the MotoGP and Superbike World Championships), the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), and the Royal Spanish Motorcycling Federation (RFME), along with sponsorship from many leading companies in the sector (KTM, Dunlop, J.Juan, Bender, Andreanini MHS, Fersa Bearings, Monlau, Circe, Anesdor, Caar, Acciona, and of course MotorLand Aragón).