Team Schluckspecht Sets New College Record and Qualifies for the World Championships

At the end of a week that was hot in every sense of the word, the Schluckspecht team had every reason to celebrate: The new S8 qualified for the Shell Eco-marathon Global Championship at the Shell Eco-marathon Europe & Africa held at the Silesia Ring in Kamien Slaski, Poland. The championship will be held from January 21 to 25, 2027, at the Lusail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar.

However, the start of the competition had been a bit rocky. After arriving at the racetrack on Wednesday morning, the technical inspection of the vehicles scheduled for that day was delayed due to issues on the organizer’s part. As a result, both the battery-electric Prototype S8 and the ethanol-powered Urban Concept S5 were not able to complete the inspection until Thursday morning. However, the team overcame this hurdle without any trouble and—after the forgotten racing suits had arrived via express mail—was still able to complete all practice runs. A total of six races were then on the schedule for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

In the very first race, the S8 set a new university record of 736 kilometers per kilowatt-hour (previously 684 km/kWh) and remained above the old record in four of the five subsequent races. Only in one run was the result slightly worse because the driver’s path had been cut off, forcing her to brake and start up again, which consumed a lot of energy. In the end, the S8 placed 9th in the efficiency competition.

The team was also satisfied with the results of the S5, which features a completely redesigned gasoline engine. Although the first and last qualifying runs had to be abandoned due to technical problems, the other four runs performed consistently well, resulting in a new team-internal track record at the Silesia Ring (188 kilometers on one liter of fuel) and a 5th-place finish in the efficiency competition.

Once the work was done, everyone eagerly awaited the awards ceremony on Sunday afternoon. For the first time, the three best runs (using a conversion factor) were compared against all other teams across all categories, and the bonus points from the off-track awards were added together to determine the winners. Since Team Schluckspecht, with its safety concept —which included camp and paddock rules, a camp and paddock safety officer, and a web app for reporting potential accidents—won the Safety Award, it qualified as one of only seven teams out of a total of 135 competing with the S8 for the World Championship.

So now they’re off to Qatar in 2027. “The team is thrilled to be heading to the World Championship once again after India in 2023,” explained team leader Prof. Claus Fleig before the return trip on Monday. However, of the 30 team members who participated in the Shell Eco-marathon Europe & Africa, only 15 will be able to make the trip. So a difficult decision lies ahead, but this great team—from the drivers and those responsible for mechanics and electronics to the media staff and even the chefs—will rise to the challenge in the spirit of success. And the members are already brimming with new ideas to help the S8 break the 1,000-kilometer mark on a single kilowatt-hour in the coming years. The S5 will compete once more at the Shell Eco-marathon Europe & Africa in 2027, but the focus is already on developing its successor, the S7.

For more details on the Shell Eco-marathon Europe & Africa in Kamien Slaski and on Team Schluckspecht, visit Schluckspecht | Hochschule Offenburg.