Kit Car races on at Aintree

Posted: 21/09/2023

The Argument Continues. The Chicken Came First!

On Wednesday, 13th September 2023, the Design Technology Greenpower Race Teams competed in their penultimate heat in an attempt to solidify a place in the World Finals at Goodwood, due to take place on 8th October. We competed at Aintree Ground in Liverpool, where, in the centre of the Grand National track, they have a Club Sport race circuit which used to be one of the old Formula One tracks in the 1950s and 1960s.

Practice for the juniors in Team Chicken went well, and after having to swap a faulty component in scrutineering to pass, they successfully guided the car around the track and started to make plans about tactics and race driver order. Practice for the seniors, however, was a little more fraught and although scrutineering went without a hitch, they had an accident during the practice which saw a wheel ripped from its chassis, bending multiple components into different directions. They worked hard during the juniors' first race to patch the issue, but with a buckled wheel, it would be hard to see a race result going their way. However, they carried on with race prepping regardless.

Team Chicken raced first and the car was strong - the new system seemed to work well and they finished in 5th place overall and 1st place kit car. A position that we hadn’t seen for a while. There are still areas to improve, which is something they will address for the racing at Castle Combe.

The Egg was up next and headed out very quickly from the start and showed glimpses of why the car won every heat last year with the team in its maiden season. For most of the race, we were leading the Kitcar category and only really started to fade during the last couple of laps where the buckled wheel started to strain the motor and batteries too much. Despite this downturn in the last few laps, the team still managed a respectable 3rd place Kit car.

Race two for Team Chicken was more of a test session and an opportunity for some of the non-designated drivers to get out and have a drive around the circuit. We geared down to compensate for driver size and a slight wind, and even though we did this, we came a very respectable 2nd in the Kitcar Category.

It was a great day for both teams who had plenty to think about for the final heat of the season at Castle Combe before the Finals next month.

Students on the day included: Juniors, Jonnie P, George A, Alexis C, Logan I and Tom S. The Senior team included: Felix M, Steven C, Alex L, Ming S, Wennqing T, Conrad B, Yanbo D, Maksym G and Kaan E.

A special thanks to our sponsors: 4QD, Aplan Insurance, Point S, Washford Finishings, Eagle Plastics, Cycle Studio and Aston.com.

A big thank you also goes to Mrs Ascough who accompanied us for the day and Mr Matthews and Mr Kingston for their engineering excellence as always.

- Report by Mr Broadbent