The car which took part in the Silverstone race. Telegraph picture

Jamshedpur, Nov. 13: The state might have to buy some more time to boast of Formula One (F1) speedsters like Narain Karthikeyan and Michael Schumacher, but its journey to the fast lanes has teed off.

In July, Adityapur-based Auto Fibre Craft became the first unit in the region to manufacture the body of lightning fast cars used in F1 racing meets. Designed by a group of students of BIT, Mesra, the body of the car was made in a record time of just seven days at the Adityapur unit by a group of just 20 technocrats.

Made up of high quality fibre reinforced plastics, the car was one of the official entries to the legendary Formula Student Contest held at Silverstone in the UK last July. The 543cc Suzuki engine of the petrol car was bought from the Mayapuri market in Delhi. The three-cylinder engine belongs to 1985 model.

The technicians of the city-based firm manufactured not one but two separate cars for the event. While one of them qualified for the final racing event in Silverstone, the other emerged as the second best designed car in the static round.

Built at an estimated cost of Rs 12 lakh, the entire project was funded by the state government along with BIT, Mesra. “The BIT, Mesra, is the only Indian institute whose car made it to the final round of the prestigious Formula Student Contest in the first go. We spent around Rs 25 lakh, including the transportation cost,” said Pratik Kumar, one of the designers of the cars and a final-year student of BIT. “There was a restriction in the contest that participants cannot use engines beyond 600cc,” said Pratik.

Anand Dhaboo, the director of Auto Fibre Craft and an alumnus from IIT, Kharagpur, said: “When the offer to manufacture its body came, we decided to go ahead assuming that it will give us a foothold in an unexplored domain.”