A team of University of Sussex Engineering students are speeding towards Silverstone with their hand built racing car.
Mobil 1 Team Sussex aims to compete against students from around the world in the prestigious annual Formula Student competition. Headline sponsor Exxon Mobil has provided the team with week by week training, assistance, marketing advice and financial assistance.
The students have been working full speed since last summer on their 2009 entry - usually teams enter the non racing elements of the competition in their first year but the Sussex 'petrol heads' worked right through the summer to enable them to get a race ready car by July.
The Engineering students Mike Andrews, Adam Wilton, Mike Preston, Steve Landsdowne, Stan Smith, Jack Bergquist, Angelos Masouras, Charidemos Levadiotis, Daniele de Anna, Mina Samaan, Martin Jones, Alex Balbastro, Paolo Corsini, Tom Williams and Chris Henderson, along with product design undergraduate Anna Dugard, manufacturing supervisor Martin Rayner and microbiology student Hannah Newey have entered the 2009 Formula Student competition being held at Silverstone on Thursday 16 - Sunday 19 July.
These hands on students will need to use their business acumen too. The competition is not just about building a race a car, but also to develop and present a viable business plan to the judges. The students are required to seek sponsorship, develop their own marketing and communications strategy and ensure the whole project is professionally managed.
Features of Mobil 1 Team Sussex's entry include a Yamaha 600cc four-cylinder injection engine, restricted airflow 20mm, Mobil 1 oil, DTA fast Engine management system, electronic paddle shift mechanism - just like a Ferrari and an Exxon Mobil painted carbon fibre shell.
Formula Student is run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), in partnership with the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE).