Racing car revs up college prospects

Newi students have been fine tuning the racing car

The glitz and glamour of Formula One racing may seem far removed from student life, but a new course at a north Wales college aims to nurture the Silverstone engineers of the future.

Thirty pupils have travelled from as far a field as France to sign up for Performance Car Technology at the North East Wales Institute (Newi) in Wrexham.

Mr Pettifer: Good opportunities

On Saturday the pupils will test out their skills against competitors from across the UK.

'Newi Racing' will run a Van Diemen RF79 Formula Ford 1600 in the Opal Telecom North West Formula Ford Championship.

The pit team will be crewed by students on the course and the driver behind the wheel will also be from Newi.

Adam Pettifer, 22, has been on the course for one year, he said the training could open up a number of career opportunities.

"You could either go into motor sport or something in the automotive industry, perhaps development engineering," he said.

"That is one of the best things about this course - there is a wide spectrum of opportunities."

The Honours and Foundation degree courses have an emphasis on vocational study and youngsters have also built racing kit cars.

Safe environment

Senior lecturer Hastings McKenzie said: "That will be available for track days - they're the new rock and roll of car driving - it'll enable the guys to go out in a safe environment and push a car to its limits."

"Hopefully, getting out to the schools will demonstrate that there are lots of interesting courses which could lead to a rewarding career."

The course has been well received by students

Teachers hope to forge close links with the multimillion pound motor industry to kick start the students' chosen careers.

They have also targeted youngsters from "less well off" areas in a bid to get them behind the wheel and into further education.

Mr McKenzie said: "We have forged some links with the national school karting association and we are hoping to develop that into links with local schools by getting the kids involved with karting in the coming year.

"The national school karting association involves some schools.

"Typically the schools are reasonably well off because it's not particularly a cheap activity owning and running a kart."

He hopes students at Newi, trained in maintaining go-karts, can pass on their knowledge to younger children.

"We'll be going out then to the schools in perhaps the less well off areas of Wrexham and actively promote the things we do here at Newi," he said.