ECU Racing claims second Silverstone crown
31st August 2026
Edith Cowan University’s ECU Racing team has claimed another major international title, winning the overall Formula Student UK 2026 Championship at the Silverstone Circuit.
The Western Australian team secured the championship for the second time, overcoming competition from more than 100 universities from around the world during five days of engineering and on-track challenges.
At the centre of the victory was Gwen, ECU Racing’s student-designed, engineered and built hybrid race car.
The car was assessed across engineering, manufacturing and business categories as well as its performance on track, with ECU Racing emerging as the overall champion.
Engineering and design director Tarun Srinivas said the result represented the culmination of two years of development.
“Gwen was developed over two years and represents countless hours of design, testing and problem-solving,” Srinivas said.
“To come away as overall champions twice in a row against some of the world’s best universities is something we’re enormously proud of.”
Gwen features an Australian-first hybrid configuration combining an electric powertrain driving the front wheels with a combustion engine powering the rear wheels.
The combination provided ECU Racing with a distinctive approach to the Formula Student engineering challenge and demonstrated the technical capabilities of the university’s students.
ECU executive dean engineering Associate Professor Douglas Chai said Formula Student demanded far more than simply producing a fast racing car.
“Formula Student is one of the most challenging engineering competitions in the world and winning it requires excellence across every aspect of the project,” Chai said.
“Our students have shown they can compete with, and outperform, the best international teams.”
Student engineer and driver Cian Butler said the championship was particularly rewarding because of the work undertaken throughout the team.
“We always believed Gwen had the potential to be something special,” Butler said.
“Gwen’s lightweight, agile and incredibly capable, but what really makes this win meaningful is the effort put in by every student behind the scenes.”
ECU Racing has been representing Western Australia internationally through Formula Student UK and Formula SAE-A competitions since 2008.
The program has also provided a pathway into professional motorsport, with ECU saying a number of its graduates have gone on to careers in Formula 1 and Supercars.
The latest Silverstone victory further establishes ECU Racing among the leading university motorsport and student engineering teams competing internationally.