Greenpower Team Driven by Determination at Goodwood
The Greenpower team, comprising pupils from Years Seven to Ten, embarked on an early morning journey to the iconic Goodwood race track for the international Greenpower finals day. Braving the dark and cold, the enthusiastic group of Amelia Gutteridge, Verity Bond Evans, Tom McElhannan, Lexi Small, Maya Dworak, Rosie Bousfield, Ellie Gutteridge, Pola Dworak, Daisy Swatton, and James Haldane departed from School at 5.30 am with excitement and determination.
Upon arrival, the more experienced of the group led the rest of the team through scrutineering and explained their roles for pit stops so that we could start our test laps as quickly as possible. However, this is where we faced our first problem…
Unfortunately, whilst Amelia was starting her second test lap, the car’s axle, which connects the wheel to the car, snapped meaning we could not race the car until this was fixed. However, we needed to weld the snapped part of the axle together to fix this, and we hadn’t brought a welding machine! With the team facing the threat of returning to Worcester before starting a race, we quickly asked other teams if we could borrow their welding machine. Mr Holt saved the day and repaired the car, and we were ready to compete in the day’s first race.
The team hoped that this would be the end to their problems and wished Amelia luck as she started the race. James pushed her onto the track, and the others watched, cheering her on. Verity was the second driver, and with a quick pit stop change from the entire team, our car was ready to get back onto the track. Although Verity noticed that the car would not start as she left the pits, we later realised that the circuit board had overheated and broken, which meant we had to pull out of the race to fix the car……again! Luckily, the circuit company had a stand at the track, and we could buy new components for the circuit. Mr Holt could resolve the situation and save the day again!
Whilst waiting for the final race to start, the team enjoyed pushing each other around the paddock and teaching the younger members of the team how to drive the car. We then stopped for a well-deserved lunch break with doughnuts, cookies and cakes that Verity had baked for the team.
The final race started with the whole team parading on the grid, with Lexi in the car, who drove the race’s first leg. Lexi drove the fastest lap of the day in 5 minutes and 20 seconds. After Lexi, Verity drove the second leg, and Tom drove the third leg. However, when the team was ready to finish the race, the car stopped on the track because the power had run out.
Our resilience has grown from this experience, and next season, we might be able to enter the new car that we are making, as our ‘Superformance’ car is now older than most of our team!
Many thanks to the team and, of course, to Mr Holt, Mrs Bousfield and Mr Boss for allowing us to continue our passion for DT through Greenpower.
Amelia Gutteridge, Year Ten
