MECHANICALLY minded youngsters from three primary schools are taking part in the race of a lifetime.

Pupils from Bredenbury, Whitbourne and Brockhampton have joined forces to build their own electric car.

But they can’t switch off just yet – a UK racetrack awaits them next Wednesday.

Team BWB will be on the starting grid at Rockingham, Northamptonshire, in the finals of the Green Goblin Project, a challenge for schools to construct an electric kit car, ranging from £800 to £1,100.

Run on 12 volt batteries with a top speed of 15mph, their car is unlikely to worry Ferrari or Williams. But according to Whitbourne pupil Connor James it’s an engineering masterpiece.

“We are a team – and this is a good opportunity to show that,” said Connor, aged 11.

“We haven’t raced it yet, and we’ve only been doing test drives, but it’s all been really good fun and the building of the structure was exciting.”

The project – which aims to introduce youngsters to engineering – was started by Whitbourne two months ago.

A dozen pupils attended workshops after school on Friday, although they did have some help from parents.

Sarah Somers, Bredenbury’s headteacher, said: “This project was something that the parents suggested to the schools, and as a result everyone’s come together.”