Hector Fratty

The headlamps on BMW’s GT3 race car are made by Automotive Solutions out of strong, lightweight carbon. Even with all the functions, the lamps have a small package, are light and robust. All thermal and vibration tests were passed with ease. The team of Rainer Hohlbein produced the parts in Automotive Solutions’ 500-m 2 prototyping shop in Torino, hand in hand with BMW, and Rainer himself delivered the last set directly to the Nürburgring in person to make sure the product works well. The lights are so bright, even during daytime, that you can see only light and not the car itself when it’s headed in your direction—a very interesting experience, even for those experienced with lighting. Perhaps this helped a little bit that these four cars made place 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the night qualification for the 24 hour Nürburgring race.

DVN asked three questions to Andreas Spiegelberger.

DVN: Could you introduce you, your education and your career?
Andreas Spiegelberger : I was born 1966 in Munich. My studies at the TU Munich in mechanical engineering were finished with a diploma under Professor Milberg. In the same year Professor Milberg became president of BMW. During my studies I worked three years in BMW Motorsport for a DTM team (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft) and learned a lot about car design. After my studies I worked for different automotive suppliers like Sagem, Valeo, Preh, Clartonhorn. Of all products I worked on, I liked lighting the most. As Valeo Lighting Sales Director for all German customers, I had built up strong relationships with many persons from the lighting community, and also the University in Darmstadt. I enjoyed living in Spain in these years and had built up a strong, successful team.