PARKSIDE School students were first past finishing line in a national competition to design a racing car.

The Cullingworth school’s teams came first, third and fourth in their section of the F1 in Schools contest.

The youngsters travelled to the National Centre for Motorsport Engineering at the University of Bolton after working in school on their designs. A 3D printer made plastic model cars to their specifications ready for testing.

Parkside plans to return next year to compete in a higher class. This year’s Parkside teams were Team Energy, led by Oliver Rhodes, Team Hive, led by Tomas Windle, and Team Orange Justice, led by Ewan Miller.

Science teacher Lydia Cooper said: “Each team had to be self-reliant and was responsible for sourcing their own sponsorship.

“All the teams were a credit to the school and have grown in confidence throughout the project. We are extremely proud of their achievements, especially considering that Parkside School has never entered this competition before, and we didn’t know how tough the competition would be.

“I want to thank Kay-Dee Engineering Plastics of Shipley and Extreme Lounging of Keighley for their sponsorship and support throughout the project.”

The Cullingworth students began their work last autumn by carrying out various scientific experiments to aid them with their car designs, from fluid dynamics to virtual wind-tunnel testing.

PIC generated a computer-aided design of their vehicle, which could be with a milling machine.

In Bolton the students give presentations about their project, and tested their vehicles’ speeds in 20-metre drag races.

Lydia Cooper said: “The cars were up against seven others in their tier, submitted from other schools in the local area.

Team Energy came in first with the fastest race time of 1.370 seconds, with Team Orange Justice third and Team Hive fourth. Team Hive won an award for their verbal presentation and all three teams were given an award for scientific research and development.

Any local businesses there would like to support the project either through money or resources, should contact Mrs Cooper at Parkside School by calling 01535 272752.