STUDENTS from the University of Bolton proved just how driven they are to succeed after helping racing team Century Motorsport to third place in the 2016 British GT4 Pro/AM Drivers Championship.

The university linked up with the Warwickshire-based team to run a Ginetta G55 GT4 in the championships, which includes GT cars from top manufacturers such as Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren, Bentley and Aston Martin.

With professional drivers Anna Walewska and Nathan Freke behind the wheel, the students played integral roles in the team, from pit stop control to organising logistics and everything in between.

And after helping Walewska and Freke to a fifth-place finish in the final race of the season at Donington Park, the duo clinched a place on the championship podium.

Dr Zubair Hanslot, CEO/Provost of the university’s National Centre for Motorsport Engineering, said: "We are thrilled to see our team on the podium. It is a consequence of hard work by both staff, race team and students.

"Our automotive performance engineering and motorsport technology students are delighted and played a big part in our journey to the podium.

"During race meetings, University of Bolton students are found in the paddock and the workshops as well as with race engineers learning about telemetry and how knowledge of maths and physics that they learn in the classroom is used to win races.

"This provides them with an edge in preparation for industry. As they progress from the classroom to the workshop to the racetrack, they are also prepared for the real world."

The university team were up against it after they picked up a five-second penalty in the previous round at Snetteron, which after being added to their qualifying time at Donington demoted them to 27th place on the grid.

Walewska was in the hotseat for the first leg of the two-hour race and made up three places on the opening lap.

The safety car was deployed to deal with a crash on the first corner, closing the gap between Walewska and her rivals further, and by the middle part of her stint she had moved up to 13th place.

After the pit-stop window opened at the 50-minute mark, the Bolton team executed a perfect change, sending Freke out on to the circuit with a full fuel load, new tyres and ready for a run to the end of the race.

When the order finally settled, Freke found himself 10th in GT4, and continued to put pressure on competitors further up the order.

Gaining confidence with every lap, he produced some superb times to move the team up to seventh.

They ended up sixth at the chequered flag following the withdrawal of a car further up the field, while post-race penalties incurred by competitors promoted the Bolton outfit up to fifth, which proved all important in the overall reckoning.

The university team ended up on 126.5 points for the nine-race series, 8.5 better off than fourth-place duo Aaron Mason and Robert Barrable, who claimed 18 points compared to Walewska and Freke's 22.5 in the final round.

Freke said: "It was one of those bitter sweet weekends. Free practice suggested we could be in with a good chance of a podium to finish the season, but in the race it just wasn’t to be, especially with the penalty from Snetterton.

"However, both Anna and I never gave up and it paid dividends in the end as the fifth-place finish helped us to third overall in the championship, which is a nice reward for everyone’s efforts this year.

"I’d like to say a special thank you to the University of Bolton for supporting both myself and Anna this year.

"We’ve had some brilliant races and results, so roll on 2017."

It is understood the University of Bolton will continue its racing programme next year, possibly stepping up to the more powerful GT3 class.

The first round of the 2017 championships takes place at Oulton Park in Cheshire next April.