Collegio Villoresi, a school in Monza, Italy, inaugurated an Aula Immersiva STEM on 23 October 2026, bringing a professional driving simulator into the maths and physics lessons of its upper secondary school. The inauguration marked the official start of the Sim Racing at School pilot, a teaching trial patronised by the Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI). The aim is to let students apply what they have studied to the reality of racing cars.
ACI chose Collegio Villoresi as the first trial school for a model it intends to offer to other interested Italian schools. The project was conceived by Danilo Piazza, headteacher of the school's lower secondary section and a member of the ACI Esport Commission.
How the classroom works
Students sit in a racing-style seat with a steering wheel and accelerator, facing curved monitors that show a simulated circuit. Il Giorno reports that the simulator takes them around the Monza circuit, with vibration feedback for bumps and kerbs. Speed, acceleration, friction and tyre condition are turned into telemetry that appears on a separate screen, where classmates in the room analyse the data.
At the launch demonstration, ACI Sport reports, the school used professional simulation software (iRacing and Assetto Corsa) and the telemetry it generates as teaching material, so that students checked theory against data from their own simulator sessions. Piazza says the project aims to make concepts such as kinematics, dynamics, energy, functions, derivatives and statistics concrete, and to build critical thinking and teamwork.
Partners and funding
- Collegio Villoresi: the host school of the trial.
- ACI (Commissione ACI Esport): patron, providing an official sporting framework.
- MTS - Motorsport Technical School (Lesmo): to train teachers and offer student internships.
Il Giorno reports that the simulator, PCs and screens are valued at 7,000 euros, funded partly by the Associazione Amici del Collegio and partly by the school.
What comes next
ACI Esport Commission president Cristiano Martelli describes an idea to organise championships in simulated motorsport and mathematics between schools. For state schools, he adds, ACI also has an "Inclusion - E" project with steering wheels for paraplegic students.
