We were exhausted after our Czech adventure, but we immediately regained our energy when we got the fantastic opportunity to take part in the Bucharest edition of the Red Bull Racing Showrun on September 10.
Red Bull Racing Show Run is a unique motorsport event that lets racing enthusiasts feel the power of a Formula 1 car first-hand. For the first time in Romania, Oracle Red Bull Racing gave us the chance to share our beloved car with over 50.000 people. Our single-seater opened the road for a Porsche 911 driven by the multiple rally champion Simone Tempestini, the RB7 monopost with which Sebastian Vettel won one of his Formula 1 titles in 2011, the Red Bull Driftbrothers with two BMW M4 cars, and the stunt rider Arunas Gibieza on a Kawasaki Ninja 636 motorcycle. Just by looking at the lineup, it was safe to say that we were bound to be part of an unforgettable show, but we were also up for a challenge in order to keep up with all these well-known motorsport personalities.
Since our return from the Czech Republic, we improved a lot on our car and we knew we needed our monopost to be as close to perfection as possible for our Red Bull Racing Showrun performance. This event was our ticket to tons of exposure among the Romanian public, and we knew there was no place for mistakes. Therefore, it was a real challenge to make sure that the car was 100% functional and ready to conquer the 900m track.
We transported our car to Constitution Square a day before the gates opened and we settled in our very own paddock. We were so nervous about what will the people think of us and we felt rather small standing near the Red Bull Racing team and their imposing vehicles. Nevertheless, we were extremely excited about meeting all the curious eyes of the crowd.
The next day, we were surprised to see so many people of all ages queueing at all the entrances and we were prepared to meet all of them and share our story with each and every one.
For a few hours, our team members were tirelessly greeting hundreds of visitors ranging from high-schoolers interested in our university, to guys passionate about engineering and cars of all sorts, to people excited about our project, admiring our talent and passion and even curious about our recruiting period.
We also met a lot of folks who had no idea who we were and what we were doing, even calling our car a “kart’’-which amused us deeply, but we enthusiastically shared our journey with them. The category who overjoyed us the most was definitely the families with kids. The little ones were by far the most fascinated by our single-seater and our engineers even helped them feel like true Formula 1 pilots for a few minutes. We were so happy to see so many young boys and girls ready to take over the engineering and Formula Student world in just a few years.
Then it was time for UPB Drive to take over the racing track. Seeing the car you have worked on for so many months speeding under the eyes of so many people is an unexplainable delight, but we were still nervous about everything going right. And fortunately, our performance went great. We still wouldn’t dare to compete against the cars that followed us, but in our humble opinion, we did so well. The public was cheering; the wheels were spinning fast; the engine was roaring, and we even dared to do a few “donuts” that sent the audience into a frenzy.
We loved every single second of the Red Bull Racing Showrun and even after the show ended, the support and the social media attention simply overwhelmed us.
It was truly a one of a kind experience and we couldn’t have been more grateful to Red Bull Racing for this amazing opportunity.
We’re deeply sorry if you missed it, but we promise to do it again soon.
Stay tuned!
