SPEEDY youngsters on the right track to success have engineered themselves national recognition.

A team of students from Dame Alice Owen’s School in Potters Bar have finished in third place at the national finals of the Formula 1 in Schools Technology Challenge 2011.

The six students – Andrew Goodhead, Peter Dackus, Patrick Elwood, Waz Godin, James McCormick and Ben Young – made up team Fusion, which competed in the F1 class category at the finals held at the ICC ExCeL in London.

The F1 in Schools project challenged students across the country aged from nine to 19 to use software to design, build and race a miniature Formula 1 car.

Competition cars were made from balsa wood and powered by a single compressed air cylinder, and once built were then raced down a 20 metre straight track.

Andrew Denford, chairman and founder of F1 in Schools, said: “Every year we see more innovative, more professional, more sophisticated presentations at the national finals and once again the teams have raised the bar.

“We’ve seen the cream of young engineering talent at this year’s finals and I’m sure that many of them will consider a career in industry, which makes me very proud.”

The national winners were a team from St John Payne Catholic School in Rayleigh, Essex.