Team Schluckspecht Braves the Heat
Despite extremely hot temperatures, both the S8 and the S5 were able to complete two more timed runs this Saturday before the paddock closed early due to the heat.
In the morning, the S8 was the first to take to the track. In the first race, the driver had to come to a complete stop because her path was blocked. A lot of energy was lost due to the resulting need to accelerate again. Nevertheless, the result was comparable to that of the three races on Friday. The subsequent mechanical adjustments thus appeared to be working. In the second race, however, engine problems and mechanical issues arose. As a result, the team was unable to further improve on yesterday’s university record. The final race of the six scheduled races is now set to take place during the last time slot on Sunday morning. The team is hoping for a track that’s as clear as possible and perhaps slightly cooler temperatures.
At noon, the team braved today’s heat and made further optimizations to both cars.
In the afternoon, the S5 took to the track. The drivers completed two qualifying runs at a similar level to yesterday’s. So the car is performing consistently, but its full potential has not yet been realized.
However, the weather forecast for tomorrow doesn’t look promising: it’s already supposed to be 32 degrees Celsius at 9:00 a.m. Despite the heat—which feels like it’s even causing the cars to falter—the S8 and S5 are still expected to set new best times in their respective final qualifying runs. The team hopes to break the 800-kilometer mark on a single kilowatt-hour and the 200-kilometer mark on a single liter.
The awards ceremony is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. In addition to the top three runs in each category, the final results will also include the Safety Award—for which Team Schluckspecht was officially nominated by Shell—as well as the Vehicle Design Award and the Technical Innovation Award, for which the team had already submitted applications before the competition.
So the excitement continues—both on and off the track, as well as at today’s fun karaoke night at Team Schluckspecht’s Endo Sportsbar.
You can follow the results live at:
S8: https://results.sem-app.com/app/sem_2026_pl/team/DE0008002
S5: https://results.sem-app.com/app/sem_2026_pl/team/DE0008001