The Shell Mileage Marathon or Shell Eco-marathon Youth Challenge UK as it is currently called, has been held at Mallory Park,  Silverstone Race Circuit and now Rockingham Motor Speedway over a number of years, and is organised by Shell Global Solutions.

The rules specify that each team should construct a vehicle capable of covering a 10 mile course at a minimum average speed of 15 miles per hour. 

The vehicle is allowed to accelerate using the engine and then to coast with the engine switched off - provided that the vehicle maintains the 15 mph average or greater.

Each vehicle must have 3 or 4 wheels. 

The driver must be at least 10 years old. 

Forward propulsion must be achieved exclusively by a heat engine(s) the type or design of which must operate in strict accordance with the  technical guidelines. (download rules from Shell site)

The teams are allowed 3 or 4 attempts on the course and the fuel is accurately measured before and after the attempt to calculate the fuel consumption in miles per gallon.

The teams range from private individual entries running on very small budgets to large University groups with much greater resources. .

The event has managed to maintain a friendly spirit between teams, which is conducive to technological development and improvements. 

The European Shell Eco-marathon has been held at Lausitz (Germany) for the past 2 years.