�An engineering student from Upminster is part of a team who are designing a race car which will compete at Britain’s top race track next year.

Richard Ebsworth, 22, is part of the University of Warwick Racing team, made up of 11 final-year students, tasked with designing and manufacturing a single-seater WR1 racing car to compete at the annual Formula Student Competition at Silverstone.

A large part of the car will actually be manufactured by the students as they prepare for the competition in July.

The WMG sponsored team, which is made up of a mixture of mechanical, manufacturing, automotive and electronic engineering students, are aiming for a top five finish at the Formula Student Competition.

As part of the competition, the students will also have to give a cost and business presentation to the panel of judges.

This year’s team have high hopes of success at the competition after gaining valuable experience last year when they built an electric go-kart for an emerging technologies event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where they came fourth out of 30 entries, as well as topping the Class 2A category at the 2011 Formula Student Competition.

Chassis engineer Richard said: “The project allows me to take part in a real life engineering challenge, putting my theoretical knowledge to the test.

“Having a racing car as an end product serves to make that challenge just a bit more exciting.”

Formula Student is an international event, organised in the UK by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which sees more than 100 teams from universities across the globe compete.