A record number of teams passed the primary selection for student motorsport event Formula Student 2013.
Of the 149 teams selected, 54 are from UK universities and 11 are from India – the highest number ever.
Competing teams come from countries including Oman, Australia, Nigeria, Ukraine, Pakistan and Turkey.
Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology, which won last year’s competition, and the top UK car at Formula Student 2012, Oxford Brookes (that came seventh), are also returning to compete in July.
Jon Hilton, chairman of Formula Student, said: “Apart from the excitement of building a single-seat racing car, the popularity of Formula Student is due to the fact that it’s the perfect testing ground for developing skills that are crucial to a successful career in industry. Previous participants have gone on to have successful careers not just in motorsport and automotive engineering, but in all aspects of industry.
“The event attracts some of the most inventive and talented young engineers from around the world and I’m looking forward to seeing all the advances there will be in this year’s cars.”
Formula Student, which will take place in Silverstone on 4-7 July, is the world’s largest student motorsport event.
Run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, it challenges student engineers to design, build and race a single seat racing car in one year.
The cars are then judged on their speed, acceleration, handling and endurance in a series of time-trial races, while the teams are tested on their design, costing and business presentation skills.
