International Finals

Posted: 16/10/2023

On Sunday, 8th October 2023 both Greenpower Race Teams travelled to Glorious Goodwood for the International Finals where they would race against over 100 teams from the UK and Europe. It was a long day for all students involved with them leaving School at 5.00am for the long drive down south, but the experience of racing against teams from Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Ireland was well worth the journey.

Scrutineering for both teams went without a hitch, as did the practice laps where Team Chicken were able to trial new driver Charlie A. Both cars had been given a few major upgrades since the heat races and we were hopeful that both could be on the podium by the end of the day.

The new format meant that in race one, the juniors would drive for a qualifying place on the grid, and after successfully coming 2nd in that race, we placed high up in front of the pack and were 11th on the grid out of 80 for the afternoon race. The drivers and teams were flawless, and we finished in a very good place.

Race two saw the seniors take out The Egg for their only race of the day. Ming S drove the car superbly and was in first place for much of the race but as the batteries faded, we were passed on the final lap, and although we re-passed them during that same lap, it was too late for a 2nd place finish and we dropped to 3rd. This was no mean feat when racing against teams from large corporations, colleges and Universities such as Renishaw and Jaguar Land Rover. The car also ended with plenty in the battery and maybe we should have geared higher!

Race three was a superb race to watch and tense right up until the last couple of laps where we came from 2nd into 6th due to a drop off in energy. Up until that point the car was flying around the track and looking great. When the car came back into the pit, we found that the motor fan had fell from its mounting and was drawing energy from the car without any recompense. This was a little disappointing but that is motor sport.
Both teams raced very well, and the cars performed flawlessly. We are very proud that they reached the finals and we certainly worried some of the other teams with their more hi-tech vehicles. New teams are currently looking at ways of making these cars even better and hopefully, next year, we can have both teams on the podium. For now, The Egg came first.

Thank you to all members of the team and a big thank you to all of our sponsors: Point S, A plan Insurance, 4QD, Washford Finishings, Eagle Plastics, Cycle Studios and Aston.com for supporting us in many ways this season.