HIGH-octane Robert May’s School students brought a touch of F1 glamour to Festival Place in Basingstoke last weekend.

The racing team of six past and present students from the secondary school in Odiham organised a fundraising event to help them speed into the next stage of the F1 in Schools challenge.

As Team Rush they are competing against thousands of others across the world to design a Formula One car of the future, on a tiny scale.

They teamed up with Lotus Renault to host a two-day event in the shopping centre last Saturday and Sunday, charging shoppers £1 to compete with the mini-racers on a 14-metre long track, reaching speeds of more than 60kmph.

Shoppers were able to admire a real Lotus Renault F1 car and have a ride in a Formula One simulator.

Philip Cain, Head of Design Technology at Robert May’s, has been running the team, which comprises three girls and three boys, aged between 15 and 18.

He said: “I’m very proud of them and I think they stand a real chance this year. There is some tough competition but they have worked hard.”

He explained the team is hoping to raise a total of £25,000 to help them in the competition, nearly double what a school team raised for the competition entry last year.

The F1 in Schools programme was set up to inspire interest in the engineering industry.

Team Rush member Katy Edwards, 15, said they were working hard before the regional heat of the competition, next Wednesday at City University, London She said: “We have separate roles and have been using lots of computer-aided design and manufacture, to help us make the car.”

Teams are judged on car speed, as well as supporting evidence of their design, verbal presentation and marketing display.

They compete regionally, nationally and internationally for the Bernie Ecclestone F1 in Schools World Championship trophy.