Students revved up for a new challenge

The racers, led by team principal and lecturer Dave Tucker, competed in the 2015 Mono2000 Championships in their debut season.

But after securing a creditable fourth-placed finish in the standings, they have decided to make a move up class to Formula Three standard.

While it is a decisively big step for the mostly amateur team, Tucker and pro driver Shane Kelly have backed the group of engineering students to continue to impress as they also gain first-hand industry experience.

Tucker, the principal lecturer in mechanical engineering, said: "It's been an absolutely fantastic rise for our students.

"We did our first testing in March after being formed for six months. They were just about used to the car by then but had never been to a track.

"By June they were heading to the Spa circuit in Belgium."

University of Wolverhampton Racing Team's (UWR) unique selling point is that they offer engineering students a chance to be part of the set-up.

Everything from data and performance analysis is covered by the students as the team competes against professional race outfits and other far more experience sides.

Steered

Tucker said: "There is no other university doing it professionally like us.

"The event has had a big impact on the uni and a massive impact on the course.

"It is a credit to the course that these students have started from nowhere to running a professional-style race team.

"We started with nothing and the students were a bit wide-eyed originally, but once they got used to the car they were happy to get stuck in and it took off from there."

Kelly steered the car to a fourth-placed finish by the end of the season after they secured their first win at the famous Silverstone circuit in June.

But despite their phenomenal success as a team on the track, both Tucker and Kelly revealed that it was more about how they had taken to the paddock and garage as part of a race team.

Tucker said: "Before we started we reached out to the industry and asked what they wanted with postgraduate courses.

"Myself and Shane have been involved in something similar to this before but on a much smaller scale.

"It's not what these students have achieved on the track, but the life skills they've picked up.

"They've learned the importance of reliability – simple things like letting the team down if they were late.

"Employers know that they understanding a working day.

"Particularly for the final half of the season, the team were as good as any professional outfit.

"It's a significant journey that the students have been on.

"Their spirits have stayed up and while nothing is perfect, it's been 90 per cent positive.

"Every now and then things come up that you have to deal with.

"I was even a little down after the first race weekend because you get worried that students may lose interest when it doesn't go right.

"But they were straight back into it on the Monday morning like nothing had happened and that really lifted me."

The team principal, who is based in Telford, thanked the university for the support that it has given the project and fellow students for taking it to their hearts.

"The uni is very keen to back it because of the success," he said.

"The place has fallen in love with it. We had film students come and interview us for their dissertation work and people follow us at the race meets.

"We got ourselves a trophy cabinet and you don't realise during all of the action what you've achieved.

"It's not until you step back and look at that trophy cabinet now that you realise where you've come from and what you've achieved.

"We're happy to step up and we're looking forward to it. At the end of the day it only improves the employability of our students.

"We can't wait to step out with the big boys in F3."

Professional driver Kelly, 30, and from Southampton, added just how impressed he had been with the band of students that had geared him up so well across the 2015 season.

Kelly, who has raced and won a Formula Three title in 2006 before establishing himself as a film and TV driver, revealed how the youngsters were able to gauge the team environment.

He said: "There is a lot of patience involved and we've been clear with them when they've had to up their game.

"But it's very important that they had fun at the same time or else they wouldn't want to be a part of it.

"When they stopped being in awe of the car that's when they began to relax.

"It's always important to have banter in the team because you spend a lot of time together."

Many of the students involved in the 2015 season were third year and graduated into employment, with the pressure of stepping into F3 falling on the younger years and any new intakes.

Tucker added: "We've gone above and beyond. Motor racing is a sport and the industry has a sharp window. Engineers get noticed and talked about. Word of mouth is very important.

"Then people will see our success in the press and racing magazines – it all snowballs.

"It's a rolling project. The students that started in September have been advised to join us and it'll be nice to go into the F3 season with a bit of experience.

"We would like to say thanks to our sponsors and investors who have made a lot of this possible for us."

Next season's Formula Three season is expected to start in April 2016.