JKU Racing Team

From Zero to the Grid… this season’s motto was more than a goal, it was a mindset. In August 2025 the JKU Racing Team was founded. Within one year a fully functioning race car was to be designed and manufactured. Although that was already a challenge in and of itself, we did not only want to build a car, we also wanted to lay a foundation for the future. That is why we set ourselves high-reaching goals: all wheel drive, in house developed software, self-designed electrical framework, including the power converter, and a full aerodynamic package. Just 10 months later, Mercury made its debut: on June 27th the Vehicle-Status-Video was filmed. With a driving race car our biggest goal for the founding season was fulfilled.

The Rollout provided more than Mercury's public debut—it offered insight into the engineering decisions, challenges, and solutions behind our first Formula Student race car. Each technical department contributed systems that transformed an ambitious concept into a functioning vehicle.

After months of dedication, long nights, and countless challenges, we proudly unveiled Mercury, our first Formula Student race car at our Rollout event.

We recently had the opportunity to represent JKU Racing’s Autonomous Driving department at ARWo in Hamburg, where Formula Student teams from the autonomous racing community came together to exchange ideas, present technical progress, and discuss current challenges in the field.

Over the recent weeks, we had the opportunity to present our team at two exciting events — the Lange Nacht der Forschung (LNF) and the JKU Open House.

Design. Build. Race. To find the fastest hands behind the wheel, we took the team to the track for the first ever Driver Tryout of the JKU Racing Team.

Developing an advanced electric powertrain is in our opinion not just an option—it is a necessity for the future of mobility. Precision is at the core of our battery development. Which is why we rely on TRUMPF laser and bending machines, to precisely cut the essential aluminum plates for our battery housing and achieve optimal bending results. These components were then expertly joined using high-end Fronius welding equipment within the state-of-the-art workshops at Linzer Technikum.

To collect our new inverters from DTI in Kecskemét (Hungary), three of our team members — Julian, Riccardo, and Agi — headed east last week. Since it was quite a journey, they took the opportunity to also visit the Arrabona Racing Team in Győr along the way.

In Formula Student, securing a competition spot starts long before the car is ready. Quiz Day is the first major challenge of the season — and for us as a first-year team, it was an especially important milestone.

The new semester started at full throttle for JKU Racing! With presenting our team at the Welcome Day to teaming up with the JKU Astros for an unforgettable halftime show, we have already hit top gear.