Accrington and Rossendale College’s Electric Racing Car Club has received backing from Attwater, a local high-performance engineering specialist.
The Preston company will supply composite and sheet materials for the vehicles, which will compete in the Greepower Formula 24+ racing series.
Accross’s club has been designed to help 16 to 25-year-olds learn about the importance of science, technology, engineering and maths by giving them the opportunity to design and manufacture a competitive racing car.
The final product will compete in a championship consisting of eight 90 minutes races, including the final round at Goodwood Motor Circuit in October. They will be up against sixth forms, youth groups and universities from across the North of England.
The endeavour is being supported by Attwater, as managing director Richard Attwater is not only a huge supporter of engineering, but also something of a motorsport enthusiast.
Earlier in the year, the company supported local rider Lyndon Poskitt as he competed in the Dakar rally, and Richard himself has competed across a variety of disciplines in recent years.
He said: “Lancashire has a strong history of designing and building world-beating products and I have been really pleased to see the enthusiasm of the youngsters taking up the discipline from such a young age.
“Projects such as these demonstrate how much fun engineering can be, and how rewarding it is to see your hard work come to fruition. At Attwater, we do what we can to help organisations such as Accross give their students the best possible education, and we are more than happy to contribute to a project such as this.”
The Electric Racing Car Club has been organised by Shaun Flatley, who previously ran a similar project in Rochdale, which was also supported by Attwater. He said: “We are very grateful for the support of Richard and his company. With his help we are creating a generation of talented engineers.”
