A MIDDLE Swan resident has returned victorious from the UK after his team became grand champions at the Formula Student (FS) 2024 event in July.

FS is Europe’s most established educational engineering competition for students and celebrated its 25th anniversary the previous year.

Middle Swan resident Brock Kelly returned home last week after being part of the Edith Cowan University (ECU) race team that took out first place at the motorsport competition.

Mr Kelly was part of the mechanical engineering branch of the team responsible for data acquisition systems and ergonomics, collecting important data to inform the improvement of the vehicle.

“Competing in Formula Student this year was awesome — the team was lucky enough to be sent to the UK to race at Silverstone,” Mr Kelly said.

“This involved us competing against 100 other teams from 20 different countries.

“My role within the team initially began by conducting an ergonomics study on how the driver sits within the vehicle to try and improve driver comfort.

“From that I then moved into the data analysis section which meant ensuring all 30 sensors were operational and then later analysing them to increase performance.”

Mr Kelly said growing up in Middle Swan gave him an environment that nurtured his interest in motorsports.

“I was into go-karting so that’s where the real passion came from,” he said.

“My dad grew up on a farm, so he’s been very hands on and that’s been handed down to me.

“The block sizes in Middle Swan are rather large so I could go out to the shed and tinker but we’re also close to go-kart tracks like the one in Wundowie in the hills.

“Near (SpeedDome Middle Swan) there are always car meets and so that atmosphere was always there.

“I attended Swan Christian College, where we had woodworking and engineering so the manufacturing skills, I picked up there then acted as a prelude to me studying mechanical engineering at uni.”

The ECU racing team near the end of last year revealed a lighter, quicker and more powerful car.

Weighing in at 164kg, the car is capable of reaching 100km/h in under four seconds.