Winning ways: Alistair Wardrope and Steve Hallett working on the world’s first competitive hydrogen-fuelled race car. (Picture: Brian Bell)

A hydrogen-powered racing car built by students has won a top prize - the Least Carbon Produced cup - at this year's Formula Student competition, reports Brian Bell of London Press Service.

The car, which raced at the renowned Silverstone circuit, also won the cup for Overall Winner in the new Class 1A for Alternative Powered cars.

The vehicle runs on completely renewable fuel, has no carbon dioxide emissions and has power close to an equivalent petrol car. The design was highly praised by the industry judges. And it was the first time in the Formula Student competition's 11-year history that there was a category for cars powered by alternative fuels.

"The new Class 1A category is so important," said Pat Symonds who is technical director of Formula 1 racing and Formula Student ambassador for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). "In the future, low-carbon cars will be a necessity, so it is vital our young engineers are working on solutions now. I am proud that Formula Student is in no way a static event. We are moving with the times and reacting to the current demands on the motoring industry."

The winning Formula Student team from the University of Hertfordshire, southern England, also took the Class 1-200 Cup for re-engineered cars for the third year running at the competition.

Hertfordshire University was the largest, single represented academy at the event. Alan Combes, head of Automotive Engineering, said: "We were also the only university to build its Class 1 entry to the new 2009 chassis regulations. We did this so that next year's teams will inherit a legal car to enter into the 2009 Class 1-200 competition [and] which will give them a head start over other teams."

Formula Student is a project for engineering students to produce a racing car. The project forms part of their academic studies and culminates in the summer competition when teams from across the world get together to race and compete against each other.

The competition is run by the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers in partnership with the Society of Auto Engineers and the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

The 2008 Hertfordshire University Formula Student (FS) car was claimed to be "greener and faster than ever," using a new fully recyclable material that has potential for wider use in the UK automotive industry.

The car has a 92 brake horsepower engine and uses a new, low-cost material called Pure. "We are very excited about Pure," said Ian Burgess, the Hertfordshire FS team leader. "In previous years, we used carbon fibre everywhere; Pure is much more environmentally friendly and is a third lighter than aluminium with the same stiffness."

This year's event, Europe's leading student motorsport competition, was the biggest so far with about 3,000 students in 80 teams from 22 countries attending.

The event, regarded as a benchmark of excellence by employers, challenges students to design, build and compete in a Formula 1 style single-seat race car, gaining valuable practical and management skills along the way.

Ian Siddy, aged 23 and studying mechanical engineering, was team leader for Bath University, western England, that retained the Best British Race Car title. He said: "FS has whetted my appetite for motorsport. I have always loved taking things apart and rebuilding them. I was always tinkering with things. Motorsport has always been my dream, so I was thrilled that we did so well in such a prestigious competition."

John Hilton, IMechE FS chief judge, commented: "FS is great because it allows students to gain the practical skills in addition to their academic knowledge. A personal highlight for me this year was the buzz of the closing ceremony. I felt that this year, more than any year previously, there was a great sense of support and camaraderie among the students. It was great to see."

The overall race car competition was won by a team from Stuttgart, Germany. Team leader Simon Teufel said: "It is the first time we have ever won the event - it is like winning Wimbledon for us. Everyone is helping each other out - which is amazing that everyone is willing to help other teams even though there is a competition taking place"

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the global voice for its craft and supports a vast range of education initiatives across schools and universities. It has more than 75,000 members in 120 countries and represents mechanical engineers involved in a diversity of fields such as automotive, rail, aerospace, medical, power and construction.

Formula Student is supported by the Learning Grid, Airbus, Shell, Honda F1 Racing, IET, RS Components, National Instruments, Autodesk, Alstom, Flybrid Systems, SolidWorks, Ricardo, The MathWorks, Johnson Controls, Fisita, Bosch, Advanced Composites Group, GPR Motorsport Equipment, EEMS and the Royal Automobile Club.

University of Hertfordshire
www.herts.ac.uk