Andretti Autosport, a competitive auto racing team, is putting the pedal on the metal through a partnership with 3D printing manufacturer Stratasys.
“We have been looking for the right partner to add 3D capability to our design and development activities for a while now,” said Andretti Autosport COO Rob Edwards in a press release. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to establish a relationship with the industry leader, Stratasys.”
The team, which competes in the Indy Lights, IndyCar Series and the FIA Formula E Championship, among others, has already begun 3D printing in-house to improve their racing performance. They’re using the Stratasys F370 and Fortus 450mc 3D printers.
“Since the machines were commissioned, they have been operating at capacity and we look forward to seeing the benefits of our expanded capability on the race-track in 2019,” said Edwards.
High-performance sports nothing new for Stratasys
Stratasys uses 3D printing to accelerate design iterations, workflows and final part production. The goal in this partnership is to use the technology to become more competitive on the racetrack.
“We are excited to join the Andretti Autosport family and look forward to working together in the coming years,” said Pat Carey, Senior Vice President at Stratasys. “We see that Stratasys High Performance FDM solutions are being increasingly adopted by the world’s top motorsports teams and manufacturers.”
This isn’t Stratasys’ first foray into auto racing. In 2017 they announced a partnership with the McLaren-Honda Formula 1 team, which brought the uPrint SE Plus 3D printer on-site to track testings and races.
The goal of the collaboration was to produce parts to improve car performance, as well as use more 3D printed end-use components.
This latest collaboration with Andretti Autosport will hopefully give the team an edge in their 2019 season, which begins next month in St. Petersburg, Florida.
“We believe that our highly reliable engineering grade printers and wide choice of high-performance materials are the perfect fit for the extreme challenges our motorsport customers face,” said Carey.
For more news on 3D printing and cars, check out these stories:
- XEV to Start Production of 3D Printed Electric Car at Chinese Mega Factory
- Carbon and Lamborghini Make the Unmakeable for new Urus SUV
Source: Press release
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