FORZE HYDROGEN RACING: The Future of Motorsports Is Green

Named after the Formula Zero competition, Forze was founded in 2007 by Edgar van Os. Now, some 16 years later, Forze has grown remarkably quickly from building go-karts to Le Mans Prototype racing cars performing in official competitions. Its growth is made even more startling considering that Forze is a team comprised entirely of students – 60 of them, to be precise – lending their passion and talents honed at Delft University of Technology, Holland’s oldest and largest public technical university.

“The goal of the team is to promote the use of hydrogen technology in motorsports, and beyond. We try to accelerate developments in sustainable fields in general, not only in motorsports.” Thomas Noordzij, Public Relations & Marketing Manager, informs. “Over the course of Forze’s 15 year existence, nine race cars have been built, each one quicker than the previous.”

“Something as extraordinary as this is only possible with real dedication, which the students at Forze have proven year after year; they and their ambitious goals have made Forze what it is today.”

“All our team members decided to join Forze to work voluntarily with their passion for sustainability, technology, and hydrogen.”

RARE PROPOSITION

Historically, multiple types of fuels have been used to power vehicles, and today petrol, diesel, bio-fuels, natural gas, electricity and hydrogen are some of the most noteworthy. New, potentially more sustainable systems have been developed over the years, among which the hydrogen fuel cell is arguably the most promising.

Leading car manufacturers like Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Hyundai are all developing fuel cell cars and many more on top are investigating the technology, bidding to bring fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) to the market with increasing fervour. Following suit are increasing numbers of European countries, investing in hydrogen filling station networks to accommodate these imminent new cars.

Still, though, hydrogen fuel cell race cars are extremely rare, and Forze’s remains proudly the only student team working with high-power automotive fuel cells worldwide. “At Forze, we stand for a sustainable future for mobility,” affirms Noordzij. “Together with battery electric vehicles we want to compete against petrol-powered cars. “

To make this a reality, a team of hard-working and ambitious people is necessary, he continues, and this team’s passion, enthusiasm and determination is what makes Forze a success, backed by the many years of knowledge and growth that Forze has seen so far.

It is difficult to picture more ideal, productive work experience, with Noordzij revealing that the entire team changes each August; it effectively constitutes a one-year break from the students’ studies, usually between bachelor and masters degrees, which they spend at the epicentre of this pulsating sport.

“Every year a new team of students is chosen to continue the work, which also comes with its challenges,” he describes. “It is important to have an efficient transfer of knowledge between two teams, but at the same time it is comforting for new teams to know that they have the knowledge and support of their predecessors.”

“We have a number of people who partner with us for recruitment purposes,” Noordzij addends, “because they are well aware that we have some of the best engineers in the area; as a result, many students end up finding an internship or indeed a full-on position at one of these partners.”

FIRMLY ON TRACK

Speaking with Energy Focus last year, Forze revealed that its ninth car, the aptly named Forze IX, was well into the testing and assembly phase; its design launch came in January last year, Noordzij happily updates. “The initial feedback has been incredibly positive, and we have also garnered a lot of media attention, pleasing, too, given our overall goal of vaunting hydrogen technology in our own unique way – by building a race car.”

“A future of racing without emissions is our dream,” he enthuses. “We want to promote hydrogen as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels by showing that it can compete with conventional petrol-powered cars on track.” The Forze Hydrogen Racing team has already more than adequately proven itself by building competitive zero-emission racing cars; in 2019, its eight iterations achieved a podium place in an official race in the Netherlands.

“Ever since launch, we have been pushing to actually produce a car and test and drive it, as this is the point at which we will be able to really practice what we preach and show how well the technology can work and the feasibility of racing with it,” Noordzij outlines.

“We have been focusing almost solely on this over the past year, thinking out things on a deeper level and then producing, assembling and testing, not only on the hydrogen fuel cell but also all of the subsystems of the car, like the drive train, gear box, motors and electronics.”

Forze is in the final stages of testing of all these various subsystems, Noordzij says, soon to incorporate these within the car itself. “We aim to have a driving car by the end of 2023,” he reveals, “and participate in the first race in 2024.”

Faster, with more power and zero emissions; Forze IX represents yet another breakthrough in sustainable racing, and is surely well on its way to triumphing in its inaugural race – likely to be in the Netherlands’s Supercar Challenge, a semi-professional series with an open class into which Forze IX would slot, according to Noordzij. “Ultimately we aim to compete in the GT Class, the fastest racing division of the series,” he adds, “but because we want to enter a race as soon as possible and the car will not be at its peak performance we will begin a class below.”

“We aim for race-winning performance at a level that has never been reached before,” is Noordzij’s impressive ambition. “Over the past three years, we have been working on the design of this revolutionary race car. Our engineers have designed the most innovative components and solutions for the Forze IX in order to ensure big achievements in the future.”

“The Forze IX is built to keep growing and innovating, and in the future, it is Forze’s goal to shift towards endurance racing. We believe that is where the power of hydrogen lies.”