Man and machine - small company event drift training
![[Translate to English:] Drifttraining Audi Merkle CAE Solutions](/fileadmin/_processed_/6/8/csm_Teaserblog_007_Drifttraining_V5_f4632631db.jpg.webp "[Translate to English:] Drifttraining Audi Merkle CAE Solutions")
Simulation is one thing, practice is another. Physically reconciling the two is the task of good calculation engineers. In some cases, we at Merkle CAE Solutions are particularly happy to take on this challenge. Since Martina doesn't like fast cars on slippery surfaces after she once put her motorcycle down on a manhole cover, the three of us, Maik, Chadi and I, took on the challenges of slippery roads and spent the weekend at Audi's drift training in Seefeld.
However, before we left for Seefeld, we had to promise Axel, one of our customers, not to break Chadi again, because important projects were underway. Besides, I can't go through the hassle of dealing with the employers' liability insurance association again.
It's already fun to move the Audi RS5 with 450 hp on the ice, especially since I now clearly prefer it to the skating of yesteryear with the uncomfortable shoes and the subsequent bruises. Even if our trainers, Willi and Klaus, seemed to be in mental agony when one of the not-so-cheap cars moved uncontrollably towards a wall of snow. Willi is quite right: if too much gas caused the problem, further gas is the second best solution. We also learned from Willi that there is also a life between 0 and 100% gas.
The mental image of a curve with a tree and 5 crosses conveyed to us by the training team shows where you should look when driving, namely always where you want to go. So don't fixate rigidly on the end of the traffic jam, but direct your gaze to the gap, or as Willi always said: "Always look at three pylons in advance". This helps everyone, tree, pylons, car and driver.
Willi and Klaus, both passionate former racing drivers, showed us in one or the other or all? They showed us how to keep a vehicle stable on the road, or rather on the ice, even under unstable driving conditions. But the Merkle CAE Solutions team didn't do that badly either 😊!
Saturday evening saw "extreme downsizing" from 2,700 hp to 4 hp as two horse-drawn carriages made their way through the snow-covered forest to the food bank.
The weather and the environment on the training grounds were just perfect on both days. I have cut together a few impressions for you in the adjacent video.
Otherwise, I can only warmly recommend the drift training in Seefeld at Audi.
A big thumbs up also to our entire group, but especially to the trainers Willi and Klaus and the supervision by Gerlinde. It was a great bunch and we had a lot of fun together.
Yours Stefan Merkle
PS: Of course, you could now point out that the cover picture shows two machines ... and I don't mean the second car behind it now... 😉
PPS: We can also simulate the driving behavior via MKS or FEM, but I think the fun factor is bigger on the ice than behind the computer this time.
Music from www.musicfox.vom, engine sounds from Audi RS5.