A 19-year-old Dundee University student has sustained serious head injuries in an accident at Knockhill Racing Circuit.
The teenager was piloting a prototype single-seater at the west Fife track on Tuesday when it appears it went out of control and collided with a crash barrier.
The circuit’s own on-site medical team provided the seriously injured man with help before the arrival of ambulance and fire crews.
He was said at that point to be conscious and responsive to the first crew on the scene.
The man, who has not been named but is not from Dundee, was taken by ambulance to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline. Following initial treatment there he was transferred to the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh later in the day.
The second-year civil engineering student was at the track as a member of Dundee University DRIVE team. The team was one of six from universities around Scotland involved in a practice day for Formula Student.
A Dundee University spokesman said the student had completed several laps before the accident happened. The spokesman added: “All students and staff within the team are thinking of their colleague. Members of the DRIVE team have been in contact with the student’s family.”
Formula Student is a Europe-wide university competition for students to design and build their own single-seat racing car and present how they would run their own team.
Knockhill has been supporting many universities over the last five years by providing them access to an area to evaluate their cars and the circuit’s clubhouse to practice their presentations before the UK finals of the competition.
Six universities from Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh were present on Tuesday.
All were brushing up on their presentation skills and four were also out in paddock two, a large open tarmac area, assessing and testing their cars, which are like a hybrid between a go-kart and a single-seat racer and are powered by motorcycle engines.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Knockhill, outside Dunfermline, is well known for its on track action, including hosting Scotland’s only rounds of the British Touring Car and Superbike championships, and its motoring shows.
The circuit also organises year-round events for motorsport enthusiasts, ranging from driving experience days, corporate days out to karting and on track instruction.