Racing Ahead: Greenpower Croft Circuit Race
On 21 June 2021, ten intrepid Year Seven and Year Nine pupils set off to Yorkshire for a Greenpower race day at Croft Circuit. Despite a slow journey with lots of traffic, all arrived very cheerful after the team had a ‘shoutout’ on BBC Radio 2 by Steve Wright in the Afternoon!
Once we had arrived and set up camp, Mr Holt made an excellent camping dinner with help from a few of the team. All took turns and did the washing up as well! Being the only ones at the circuit was excellent, as it allowed us all to walk around the track before the following days racing. Being the longest day of the year, we were treated to a particularly stunning sunset, whilst we discussed the best driving lines and speeds and last minute race tuning, before all enjoyed a good night’s sleep in preparation for the next day.
Race day started with a warm, sunny day, perfect for racing. Once again, chef extraordinaire Mr Holt cooked a delicious breakfast of bacon, sausage and egg, before we all headed over to our pit ready to race. The morning consisted of practise runs and was a good opportunity for new drivers to take a turn at the wheel and get used to the car.
The first two races were soon upon us and we were all very pleased with 3rd place in both races. The third race saw the unusual sighting of a red flag. On the first corner another team rolled their car. Fortunately, the driver was fine, but it went to highlight the potential dangers of racing. The race resumed and we were able to climb into and finish 2nd. This set the scene for a very tight final race, as all race distances are combined to find the overall winner. Race four was progressing well until five minutes before the driver reported a punctured tyre over the radio! There was no time to pit change with things so finely poised, and so the driver had to carefully complete the last two laps as best they could with a flat tyre and inhibited braking therefore. The team finished in 3rd place overall for the race day which was a huge achievement of which we were all proud.
Huge thanks must go to the staff who enabled and facilitated the trip to go ahead, not least: Mr Holt, Mr Batchelder, Mr Boss and Miss Spencer.
Mr Gwilym Batchelder
Head of Design & Technology