Bury St Edmunds 'world first' soapbox racer to be loaned to West Suffolk College

A pioneering soapbox racer hailed as a 'living textbook' is to be loaned to a college as a teaching tool.

Bury St Edmunds-based David Ackroyd is the founder of Formula Gravity, which has unveiled the world's first electric jet turbine soapbox racer.

The not-for-profit engineering educational provider is dedicated to designing high-tech soapbox racers, which are built, customised and driven by young people and have broken land speed records.

The organisation's latest kit, the Sapheria, is a hybrid racer, intended for use in schools and colleges.

Mr Ackroyd hailed the Sapheria as a 'first of its type in the world.'

It is a 'living textbook', boasting state-of-the-art specs and features, and students will be able to develop their vehicle engineering skills by studying the racer.

He said: "What we have here is basically a perfect build. I've got something like 30 companies involved in this build."

The Sapheria kit is endorsed by Bluebird, the legendary family of record-beating racecars.

Don Wales, the grandson of Bluebird founder Sir Malcolm Campbell, has piloted the Sapheria as a guest driver.

Mr Ackroyd conceived the vehicle during lockdown.

To make the project possible, he has worked with a number of sponsors - including the European Social Fund, which recognised its educational potential.

The Sapheria is on display in the window of A-Plan Insurance's branch office in Brentgovel Street, Bury.

It will be moved to the reception of West Suffolk College in the autumn.

He added: "We've put into it every single thing we can do - there's not even room for a toothbrush left.

"It's all British - the jet turbine, which comes from Germany, is the only foreign thing on-board."