Bhubaneswar, March 20: A group of automobile enthusiasts from the city will be hoping to make their mark in the International Go-Kart Championship in Jalandhar with a go-kart model they have developed from scratch.

The 20-member team hope that their model, which is capable of working up a maximum speed of 60km per hour, will be a showstopper at the championship.

The championship, which will be hosted at Lovely Professional University between March 24 and 26, is a global student challenge with a mission to enrich them with technical and practical knowledge of manufacturing and building a go-kart. The team, consisting of students of the Institute of Technical Education and Research, has designed, analysed and manufactured the vehicle with a 127cc Briggs and Stratton engine with a hydraulic breaking system.

"It's an awesome feeling. I think the biggest dream of a mechanical engineer is to make a car of their own and after putting together this model, we feel our dream has begun to get wings," said Asheem Sahu, one of the brains behind the project.

"Our teachers and the university have helped us a lot in manufacturing this machine," he added.

The students run the Society of Automotive Engineers India Collegiate Club at ITER since 2011 and boasts of over 450 members.

Rishav Verma, who will be driving the vehicle, feels confident ahead of taking part in the event. He said: "The goal is not to change who we are, but to become more of who we are at our best."

Saroj Kumar Sarangi, the club's faculty advisor, expressed satisfaction at the work done by the students. "They worked day and night to complete the vehicle," he said.

The team also includes three girls. "To manufacture a vehicle is not easy, but we have made it possible because of the team's hard work," said Caberi Sinha. They spent around Rs 1.25 lakh on the project.

Smruti Smarak Mohanty, another team member, said: "We had to cross many hurdles in making the vehicle. We had to come together to successfully complete the project."

He said a lot of research went into making the go-kart. "We read books, online articles and made a number of trial runs before the final item," he said.