The next milestone on our competition calendar was the Baltic Open competition in Germany. What makes this race special is the fact that all previous cars built by the team can also participate. For us, this meant a visit to the TTÜ museum where we redeemed our 2010 beauty. We also started up the very first formula car built by students, the infamous FEST08. Dealing with and racing vintage cars was left to the team’s veterans, who are no longer active members. The Baltic Open competition only awards points for the performance of the car and driver, leaving aside theoretical knowledge and skills. Upon arriving at the competition site, we knew that the first place result from Hungary would allow FEST12 to take the full game from Germany. Unofficially, the newest car was superior to the competitors in all four areas, but sporting misfortune and big risks meant giving up first places in the skid pad and sprint, as some cones were hit. In motorsport, “could have” and “should have” don’t count. Stability and reliability brought FS Team Tallinn its third overall victory from the Baltic Open safely home. The veterans formed the biggest surprise, their remarkable performance in the endurance race brought the 2010 race car to third place on the podium. FEST 08 was not far behind, fighting for the fourth position. For the Formula Student Team Tallinn, this means a great achievement, and we take it as a team triple victory.

In summary, it can be said that the 2012 season proved our belonging in the absolute top of the Formula Student world. Thank you to everyone who has contributed over the years – the victory is the result of years of uncompromising work. Every year we have taken the previous experience and made big leaps forward. When we won the Best Newcomer title in the first year, many did not believe that it could be achieved. Today, we have shown that it is possible to reach the absolute top in Formula Student, which has become immensely popular and professional, in just five years. This was not achieved with a large budget, team or industry support, but simply with pure and consistent work.

Today, we can say that this energy has not been wasted!