Steering via cable

GTC Race also an important development and test field for Space Drive in the 2022 season

The development engineers are supported by a top-class driver squad. This year, Carrie Schreiner, who has also been behind the wheel of the Space Drive in previous years, will be the regular driver for all five race weekends of the season. She will be supported by AMG Junior drivers David Schumacher and Patrick Assenheimer as well as DTM champion Maximilian Götz." The GTC Race has been the ideal development platform for us for four years, where we have a lot of opportunities to test the technology. This is where the Space Drive development on the race track started in 2019," says Roland Arnold, CEO of Schaeffler Paravan Technologie GmbH & Co. KG. "We took away important development impulses from last year's missions and learned how to interpret the driver's steering feel based on data. In the coming season, we will refine these findings and continue to focus our development on the race performance of the system, among other things," adds Hubert Hügle, CTO of Schaeffler Paravan.

In addition to Carrie Schreiner as the regular driver, a high-calibre driver squad will be fielded in the form of DTM champion Maximilian Götz as well as David Schumacher and Patrick Assenheimer. "I'm excited to see how the steering feel has developed since my last outing and would like to score as many podium finishes as possible," says Carrie Schreiner, who has already sat in the Space Drive cockpit as a development driver on the Audi R8 LMS GT 3 since 2020 and has intensively accompanied the development of the system. "So far I have only heard positive things about the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in conjunction with Space Drive. Of course, the Mercedes (front engine) has a completely different concept to the Audi (mid-engine), but I think that, after a short familiarisation period, this suits my driving style."

"The GTC Race has been the ideal development platform for us for the last four years, where we have a lot of opportunities to test the technology. This is where the Space Drive development started on the race track in 2019," says Roland Arnold, CEO of Schaeffler Paravan Technologie GmbH & Co. KG. "We took away important development impulses from last year's races and learned how we can interpret the driver's steering feel based on data. In the coming season, we will refine these findings and continue to focus our development on the race performance of the system," adds Hubert Hügle, CTO of Schaeffler Paravan.

Alongside Maximilian Götz and Patrick Assenheimer, who have also been in action as development drivers, Schaeffler Paravan brand ambassador David Schumacher will make his GT3 debut within the GTC Race in the Space Drive Mercedes-AMG. "It's my first season in GT3. Within the GTC Race, I will be driving with the Space Drive system for the first time. I am very excited about the first race and look forward to making a contribution to the use of such a meaningful, innovative technology, whether in the field of mobility for the disabled or as a future technology for autonomous driving," says David Schumacher.

The innovative driving and steering system Space Drive emerged from the field of mobility for the disabled a good 20 years ago and has already covered over 1 billion kilometres on the road. In the meantime, the road-approved drive-by-wire system has developed into a key technology for autonomous driving and is paving the way for the realisation of innovative vehicle concepts. The racing events of the past few years have also shown that the data collected at the race track is an important basis for the development of completely new safety features. The Space Drive Team relies on the tough environment of motorsport in many areas as a development accelerator and follows the development guideline "From Track To Road".

"After visiting Schaeffler Paravan, I was very impressed to see how this innovative technology makes life better for so many people by enabling them to participate on the road with a handicap," says Carrie Schreiner. "When something can withstand the extreme conditions of racing, the challenges of road traffic are no longer a problem. For me, it's a great challenge to support this."

Since 2019, Space Drive has been successfully tested in motorsport and continuously developed. In the GTC Race, Space Drive technology has already been part of the regulations since 2020 and is also used in the DTM, the Nürburgring 24h Race, in the ADAC GT Masters and in rallies. Successful racing drivers such as Bernd Schneider, Markus Winkelhock as well as the reigning DTM champion of 2021 Maximilian Götz - in numerous GTC Race events - or rally driver Armin Schwarz have raised the steer-by-wire technology Space Drive to a new level together with the Schaeffler Paravan development team.

The GTC Race takes place on five weekends as part of the ADAC Racing Weekend (08 to 10 April at Oschersleben, 15 to 17 July at the Lausitzring, 29 to 31 July at the Nürburgring, 26 to 28 August at the Dutch TT Circuit in Assen and the season finale traditionally from 30 September to 2 October at the Hockenheimring. Two 40-minute free practice sessions are always scheduled on Fridays, as well as qualifying for the GT60 powered by Pirelli. The GT60 race starts on Saturday as well as the qualifying sessions for the two GT Sprint races, which are then held on Sunday.