YOUNG karters will fulfil a dream when they experience the thrill of driving around the world famous Silverstone circuit.

Ten pupils at Hexham’s Queen Elizabeth High School have qualified for the prestigious Greenpower International Finals on Thursday, October 17 after impressing in the regional heats.

The competition is run by charity Greenpower Education Trust, which encourages young people to get interested in science and engineering by challenging them to design, build and race an electric car.

The pupils were split into two teams, a Year 11 crew of Mina Dodd, Phoebe Freeman-Bradley, James Turnbull, Euan Crozier, Oliver Crister and Gabriel Wells-Johnson, and a Year 13 team of Thomas Nicolls, Daniel Venn, Tom Firth and Emma Heslop.

The school was well supported by Hadrian’s Wall Rotary Club which provided the cars for the event, and the Hexham and Birtley branches of Arnold Clark, who sponsored the hire of a van to transport the teams.

It was a successful day all round for Queen Elizabeth at the East Fortune racing track in North Berwick, particularly the Year 11 team which followed up second in the opening race with a victory in the second event.

Year 11 pupil Mina Dodd said: “Overall, the competition was a massive success as both Queen Elizabeth High School teams qualified for the finals in Silverstone.”