The Piston Sport Auto stable - comprising Centrale Lyon, the Belfort Montbéliard Technological University and the Lyon-Vaise SIA Compagnons du Devoir - ran three competition cars at Le Mans on May 3-4, 2003, and won the prestigious UTAC SIA (Société des Ingénieurs de l'Automobile) Challenge safety prize.

This prize came as the reward for the engineering students' and the apprentices' commitment, energy and enthusiasm in together producing the Twistee car - a two-seater prototype with 100 hp for 100 cc, designed and built under the technical supervision of Vincent Tesnier, Guillaume Fritz and Nicolas Imholz, engineering students from Centrale Lyon and UTBM. Special mention was made of:

• Centrale Lyon's contribution to students' work safety during production;
• the adjustable design of the steering cab, so that students of all sizes can drive in safety;
• UTBM's engineering study on the cab, and cell ergonomics

2003 prototype
Sébastien Bruna, in his final year in Centrale Lyon, drove the Twistee, designed and built in 6 months by a score of students and 3 partner institutions. Hervé Roger, project partner and team manager of the private Original Team stable, supervised the safe performance of the test, despite the loss of the cap of the regulator and a fuel leak - both quickly repaired.

The Paris Ecole des Pétroles et Moteurs won the New Energies Prize for its 100% ethanol vehicle; the Rennes ESIARE stable won the Best Communication Prize for the publicity given to the Challenge in the Rennes region; and the Montluçon Méca Passion stable won the Special Jury's Prize for its team spirit and technical performances.