The Final - Goodwood

The Beaulieu motor museum acted as an inspirational stop off on the way up to the national final. All of the pupils clearly enjoyed themselves and were fascinated by the history of motoring.

The morning of the final started with a cooked breakfast in our youth hostel which set the pupils up for the day. It was a cold fresh morning and the weather looked like it was going to be on our side. An hour later we arrived at the famous Goodwood race track and it was clear that the competition continues to grow year on year. The paddocks were full of  hopeful teams and Greenpower had brought in a large LED screen to broadcast the event to the thousands of competitors and spectators that lined the track. The practice session went vey well and it looked like our cars were ready for the final. All the teams worked well together and were a true credit to themselves and Penair school.

The grid looked amazing at the start of the final. The teams all basked in the glorious autumn sunshine and vibrant colours of the 75 cars contrasted with the lush green grass that lay trackside. Whilst the Greenpower team sorted out the final preparations the teams were interviewed in front of the numerous spectators. Whilst not all of the final teams were interviewed, all of our teams were. I am sure the students must have been very nervous about this but it did not come across when they spoke. Final preparations over the final got underway to a huge cheer from the spectators. All of cars started fine and continued to run well for the first half of the race. Blue raptor and Eco raptor were slipping down the field though. It was now we wished we had changed the gearing on Eco - Raptor. The team had decided against it because it was never a real contender due its large frontal area (and parachute at the back) so it was decided that if it is working that we shouldn’t be changed and would be used to test our new technology. The Blue raptor team could change their gearing and advised their driver to go faster. This was unfortunately too much for the old motor and caused the team to retire before the end of the race. The Eco raptor did finish the race but a poor pit stop call caused it to finish much further down the pack than it should have. Raptor Fusion our flagship car continued to go well for the entire final and ended up coming fourth overall. The team were disappointed not to get on the podium but are happy with the result considering it was the cars first season.

The eco-raptor was also recognised nationally for it's innovative technology and achieved the Siemens innovation award. The team are delighted that all their hard work paid off and look forward to developing the technology for next season.

Penair Engineering would like to thank all of their sponsors for their support. Sponsorship has undoubtedly helped keep the Penair engineering team running.

                                                    Raptor Fusion flying past its rivals.

                                     The Eco-Raptor team with the Siemens innovation award.

                   

CASTLE COOMBE

 

The Raptor Fusion team was the only team from Penair to race at Castle Coombe due to a limited number of spaces available. The team started the race very well but disaster struck when a battery terminal snapped off (that's motor racing!). The car took a long time to recover and the team was consequently off the track for 30mins. This may have been a blessing in disguise though as the team got to really test their car and it's capabilities. The team also learnt a lot more about their batteries! The team was in 38th place when they managed to get back on to the track but some good battery management and excellent driving meant that the team finished in fourth place overall. This was an excellent achievement and the team is going in to the final full of confidence.

 

                                   Team  - Raptor Fusion

GOODWOOD HERE WE COME!

BUDDING Engineers from Penair School in Truro will be taking part in the Green Power Racing Car National Final at Goodwood in October this year, after successfully qualifying at RNAS Merryfield on Saturday.

With support from Western Power Distribution, the team hope to enter all three of the cars they have built from scratch.  The cars are powered with six 12 volt batteries which are quite costly to maintain and replace.

Graham Whipp a Planner based in WPD’s Bodmin office suggested the school contact the company seeking support to purchase some batteries.  Graham’s step-son Tom, an active member of the Engineering Team, helped design and build the cars.

Graham explains: “WPD is keen to support schools with engineering based projects so explained this to the school who were delighted with the £300 donation to purchase some new batteries.

The students gain a great deal from participating and spend a lot of their own time working on fine tuning the cars and travelling over the country to participate in events.  They are all very committed and I hope their efforts are rewarded with a good placing at the Goodwood event.”

The Green Power IET Formula 24 Race is aimed at students between 11 and 16 years.  Teams have to compete in at least one regional heat and finish in the top three to automatically qualify for the national final.

The remaining 75 cars on the grid consist of those cars that have completed the most miles in any one race with 3 wild cards thrown in for good measure. 

Penair Students before their successful qualifier at RNAS Merryfield in Somerset on Saturday 15^th September. 

Graham Whipp from WPD with step-son Tom who took part in the event.