PARATROOPERS are hoping for victory...with a new bobsleigh.

Soldiers from Colchester-based 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment are competing at the Army Bobsleigh Championships in La Plange in France in January.

To help them on their way, the team has received a new competition bobsleigh funded by Active Essex and security and logistics firmWilson James.

3 Para has a history in the competition, dominating the novice category in the 2012/2013 season by winning first, second and third and fourth place.

The troops are hoping for a repeat of the success in the new year with their new equipment and new team members straight from basic training.

Private William Summers, 21, from York, is one of the team’s newest members.

He said: “When I joined the battalion in July I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d be sitting in a bobsleigh going down an ice track at 75mph.

“We train eight times a week, doing a lot of weight lifting and also sprinting, and have just come back from a week in Austria where we have been learning to drive the sleds, it was mega.”

Private Ivan Londal, 24, from Durban in South Africa, said: “It’s brilliant to have this new sled, it’s far more advanced than the old ones we have been using.

“In January, we have the Army Championships in La Plange.

Hopefully, some of us will be selected for the Army team to take part in the inter-services championships in March. “ Gary Sullivan OBE, the chairman of both Wilson James and Active Essex, served with the Parachute Regiment in the 1980s.

He said: “You never stop being a paratrooper, being back here is like being back in the family for me.

“I went to see the team training last year and became hooked on the sport. It’s great to be able to support 3 Para’s bobsleigh team. The bobsleigh has got a Parachute Regiment cap badge on it so no one will have any doubts about who’s driving it!”