Feedback from the students in the post-master’s degree Motorsport Engineering Performance (Mastère Spécialisé®)
Competitive motorsports need qualified engineers specially trained to work in this sector. To meet this demand, ESTACA proposes a post-master’s degree in Motorsport Engineering Performance in partnership with the French Motorsports Federation. This year, the MS® trained 17 students in the design, optimisation and organisation of all technical solutions used in the field of motor racing. At the beginning of September, the students took their exams after six months of work experience, an opportunity for them to look back on their training.
The ESTACA Mastère Spécialisé®, guaranteed recognition in the world of motor sport
I chose this course especially because of the ESTACA brand, which speaks to motor sport teams. Also, course modules with the FFSA Academy on the track, simulator and during races are a real plus for training”, explains Pierre Rabanier, a student from the 2022 class who is finishing an internship in data performance racing with the Full Motorsport team, which is taking part in the FFSA GT4 French Championship.
“After training as a general engineer with a solid foundation in motor sport”, continues Josephine Savoye mechanics specialist, I was missing some.
The Mastère Spécialisé® in Motorsport Engineering Performance was an obvious way of furthering my skills and getting my foot in the door of motor sports. And I noticed that ESTACA is very well known in the world of motor racing. You can find former students of the school in all the teams”, she adds.
High-level teachers and training in the field
“During our training, we had some incredible teachers who came to share their experience with us. They were professionals and recognised experts and really guarantee the quality of the Masters. For example: William Toët, Jean-Philippe Pelaprat, Jerome Haslin, Maxime Gazier and many professionals from the FFSA, etc.” explains Joséphine Savoye.
Morgan Viola did his internship at Arkadia Racing:
“The ESTACA Master’s degree introduces us to the world of motorsports, with great teachers from Alpine F1, Porsche Motorsport, Sauber, Oreca, Magneti Marelli, etc. We also have courses at the FFSA Academy, immersion days at Stellantis Motorsport, projects with DAM’S, etc., giving us great insight into the world of motor racing.”
Jonathan Rot worked as a data performance engineer for Sebastien Loeb Racing during his internship:
“Being an engineer in motorsport lets you get close to the cars. We work on settings, data analysis to search for performance, we coach the driver… I liked working in a team in a good atmosphere.”
Internship to experience working closely with motor racing
“During my internship at Full Motorsport, I was able to go to the racetrack and get to the heart of motor racing. I was really able to learn about all the missions of a data performance engineer, from vehicle preparation, to race support and the debriefing. I am finishing the season with the team and then, I already have a few possibilities with the teams” says Pierre Rabanier.
“During my internship, I got to experience the Le Mans 24-hour race: coming out of the paddock and seeing 240,000 excited people is really thrilling. You feel really small”, adds Joséphine Savoye.
Hugo Ringeval has just come back from an internship at DKR engineering in Belgium:
my internship gave me the opportunity to learn about everything: from technical declarations to the preparation of race strategy. I had to prepare events, analyse data, check the reliability of the car and find performance with the drivers.”
As for Morgan Viola, who chose the Arkadia Racing team to prepare cars for the GT4 Europe Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe: “During my internship, I worked independently on races and cars. As a race engineer, in the workshop, I had to ensure the performance of the cars, prepare them for the race, be in contact with suppliers, ensure the right settings, coach drivers on the simulator, ensure the performance of the teams and the cars before the race. During the competition, my role was to ensure perfect communication between the driver, technical staff and race management and ensure car strategy, manage improvements, car settings according to track conditions, the race and the driver.”
What about after the Mastère Spécialisé® Motorsport Engineering Performance?
“I really love race strategy, which includes various engineering missions with a human aspect. After the post-master’s degree, I would like to continue in a major foreign team as a strategy engineer,” explains Joséphine Savoye.
For me, the post-master’s degree enabled me to understand better how the cars are developed and to meet quality teachers. My goal now is to work in a design office designing sports cars, preferably in Germany.”
Jonathan Rot
