Wolverhampton students net top marks on track

UWR will be feeling confident going into their final race of the ZEO Prototype Series next month after they celebrated victory on the penultimate race weekend.

The student team took their first overall win of the season, having won by a lap after race driver and team manager Shane Kelly recorded the fastest lap during the race.

UWR staff race engineer Matt Fenton said: “It was a remarkable race, to take the overall win against faster and lighter cars, plus taking the fastest lap at the same time was unbelievable, it’s testament to the team's hard work.”

Shane Kelly came out of the blocks fast in qualifying, being pipped for second place by a tenth of a second, meaning he started the race in third.

After the qualifying session, Kelly said: “The car really felt great, I could switch the tyres on straight away, it’s not always easy to do that in a Praga. I was really happy with the position on the grid, it was our fastest time ever at Brands, the students really put a great car together they should be proud.”

The top three, including Kelly, were able to pull away from the rest of the field in the opening laps of the first race of the weekened.

Soon after though, Kelly passed both cars ahead of him and helped UWR take their first overall win of the season.

The students, studying for degrees in aerospace, automotive, chemical engineering, mechanical and motorsport in the school of engineering at the university's Telford Campus, have spent the race season working behind the scenes to test, engineer and address any challenges presented on the racetrack.

A technical issue following the first race meant UWR were not able to compete in the second race of the weekend.

The team are heading to Oulton Park on October 26 for the final race, hoping for a similar result in their final race.