UniBo Motorsport and UniBoAT: New Prototypes Unveiled at the Imola Racetrack

Among the new releases are Athena, the new electric car, Nemesi, the new electric motorcycle, a new combustion car that will become a hybrid, and Futura, the new hydrogen-powered catamaran. These are the new Unibo Motorsport and UniBoAT prototypes, presented yesterday at Imola Autodromo. The event brought together over three hundred participants, including students and representatives from local companies, featuring debates on education and the world of motors, as well as unveiling the new vehicles.

Valuing and investing in education and in initiatives like UniBo Motorsport and UniBoAT was indeed the central point of the first scheduled meeting: a debate with Nicolò Cavina, Faculty Advisor of UniBo Motorsport and UniBoAT, the Deputy Rector of the University of Bologna Simona Tondelli, the President of Formula Imola Gian Carlo Minardi, the Regional Minister for Economic Development and Green Economy of Emilia-Romagna Vincenzo Colla, and the Mayor of Imola Marco Panieri.

Moderated by Veronica Gubian and Andrea Fabbri from JEBO - Junior Enterprise Bologna, the guests emphasised the importance of encouraging young people to put into practice the knowledge acquired during their studies, providing them with spaces to test prototypes. The Municipality of Imola and its Racetrack have been working in this direction for years.

The Team Leader of UniBoAT, Iacopo Roncuzzi, then unveiled the new hydrogen-powered catamaran prototype that the team developed over the year, while Riccardo Lutti, Team Leader of UniBo Motorsport, presented the innovations of the team’s new projects.

These include the new carbon fiber swingarm of Nemesi, a prototype of the MotoStudent Electric, already a world champion, and the conversion of the combustion car to a hybrid, thanks also to the collaboration with the Ducati Foundation. Among the innovations of the new electric car, Athena, are the new steering line, which completely eliminates play and makes the car much more drivable and performant, and the ambition to introduce autonomous driving, integrating students from F1Tenth, an international project that develops Autonomous Vehicle Systems, into the development process.

The transition from combustion engines to electrification was the focus of the second roundtable, which featured Pier Luigi Santi, ambassador of UniBo Motorsport, along with some representatives of the team's main partner companies: the CEO of Ducati Claudio Domenicali, the Product Line Director Huracan of Automobili Lamborghini Paolo Racchetti, the Managing Director of Enginium Mario del Vecchio, and the Electric Powertrain Engineer of Alma Automotive Marco Cini.

From electric mobility to hybrid propulsion, the debate highlighted the challenges of finding the right trade-off between performance and minimum weight. In this context, the importance of research becomes crucial, with the central role of students and projects like UniBo Motorsport and UniBoAT, in strong synergy with companies.