Students at the Huntingdon campus of Cambridge Regional College are combining their love of motorsport with a future career as they provide full racing team support for a driver in the Historic Sports Car Club 70s Roadsport Championship.
The college’s Motorsport group students, under the guidance and encouragement of course leader Lewis Beales, are studying on a Level 3, two-year BTEC Diploma course while providing a range of engineering services and race team support for driver Howard Payne in his 1972 Lotus Europa.
This includes full race tuning and the final checks and adjustments required after qualifying, not just to pass scrutineering but to ensure maximum performance in the race itself.
The Championship sees 12 rounds of racing, with the team from the Huntingdon campus of Cambridge Regional College attending every event. Results so far have been encouraging, with the team currently occupying third place in Class C of the Championship.
Team Manager Lewis Beales commented: “For the students, this is a real challenge. They are working on a vehicle that’s approaching 50 years old, yet still squeezing every ounce of performance from it under highly competitive racing conditions.”
While the students working on the car are well aware of its place in motorsport history, their interest in the sector is entirely contemporary, combining the study of automotive engineering theory with actual race day performance requirements.
Recent graduates from the course at Huntingdon are now employed in roles ranging from technician and sales consultant to engineering apprenticeships, competition engine rebuilding and model making.
Anyone interested in more details can contact the Huntingdon campus of Cambridge Regional College
