False Hope Final

With the Rotary Racer & The Pod Movement having managed four podium finishes in the last two races & with Team Fusion having qualified at their best recent position, we all had high hopes for the 2010 final.

Several team members travelled down on the Saturday for scrutineering at the new Greenpower centre followed by a good sing along at the hog roast thanks to Alex & Dan with their guitars.

As the race day dawned, the cars were all prepared, checked over & looking superb with fresh paint glistening in the morning sunshine.

The F24+ race had attracted a field of 20 cars & the race started promptly with Y-Pod?! making a good start along with the other top championship contenders. After a few laps, Y-Pod?!'s driver decided to up the ante & start to overhaul the leaders but suddenly, the power seemed to drop. A hurried pit stop identified nothing wrong so the car went back out on a slow but steady pace, eventually having to settle for 5th place rather than challenging for a podium position. A damaged motor was suspected and a subsequent strip down in the paddock confirmed that a winding had shorted – perhaps not to unexpected as the motor was second-hand when we fitted it to the car. As we drove home that evening, we realised that Y-Pod?! had clinched second place in the constructors championship – a superb result for the years racing…!

The Parade preceded the F24 race & all the teams looked great, we had permission for Y-Pod?! to parade alongside R-PodS SSC so all The Pod Movement cars were together.
Rotary Racer were out for a win but R-PodS SSC had battery issues & knew they would struggle to hold their staring position. Team Fusion were keen to go the distance & give a reasonable showing.
The race started with Rotary Racer vying for the lead , but after a few laps it settled down with the Chipping Sodbury cars all approximately maintaining their starting positions. The race was fairly uneventful, R-PodS SSC was up to fourth place at some point and Rotary Racer was holding onto second until their throttle switch broke, requiring a trip to the paddock & a few places lost.
In the end, Rotary Racer clawed back up to 3rd place, R-PodS SSC had to be content with 8th and Team Fusion managed a respectable 68th place.

All in all it was a great weekend – hard work, but very rewarding… roll on 2011..!

A Damp Day at Dunsfold

We all had high hopes for a good showing at the famous Top Gear circuit. The Pod Movement were hoping to improve Y-Pod?!'s standing in the F24+ championship, Team Fusion were hoping to improve their chances of qualifying for the final while Rotary Racer & R-PodS ssc were there to enjoy the day. The day dawned dry, but very cold - we had to clear ice off the car before leaving home so it must have been one of the coldest nights so far this autumn. The sun shone briefly as the cars were scruiteneerd & went out for practice but there was a strong cold wind.

After a successful practice to test the new headrest fairing, we managed to get Y-Pod?! on the front of the F24+ grid, ready for the race. As the carts left the grid, Y-Pod?! was left stranded with no drive & had to be pushed back to the paddock. We quickly managed to re-attach the chain, but by then we were a lap & a half down on the leaders. Y-Pod?! started putting in some fast laps to catch up lost ground & very quickly managed to un-lap him self & revitalize hopes for a win. Our hopes were fulfilled when at the half way mark, Y-Pod?! overtook the leading Jaguar-Landrover car & claimed the lead. At this point we all expected Y-Pod?! to slow down & conserve the batteries but the lap times stayed amazingly consistent & it wasn't long before we were a lap ahead. There was a fairly frightening incident when the recovery truck pulled out, just as Y-Pod?! was overtaking a slower car, thankfully the recovery truck held it's line & the two cars passed on opposite sides with horns blaring. Y-Pod?!'s driver must have been enjoying himself when he lapped Jaguar-Landrover for the second time but the track marshals didn't agree & he was black flagged for over-aggressive driving - you can judge the validity for yourself as the event was captured on film - see our Picasa album. Luckily we managed to rejoin the race in the lead & after that, didn’t put a step wrong as Y-Pod?! powered to a three lap lead & joint first place in the championship.

As the F24 grid formed, the sky was darkening & people were watching the sky for rain - thankfully it held of for a time & the race started with a dry track. Rotary Racer took an early lead but R-PodS ssc was challenging & managed to overtake a few times on the back straight. Team Fusion were running well and holding a good position, mid field. The race had started well with R-PodS ssc now leading, but there then followed a series of unfortunate black flag incidents due to overtaking under a yellow flag - I am still not sure if it was driver over-exuberance or inexperienced marshalling but both Rotary Racer & R-PodS ssc were pulled in several times. During all this confusion, the lead changed numerous times & we were all resigned to just enjoy the race & get more driver experience. As the afternoon wore on, the rain started - at first it was intermittent, but as the last hour started, it had settled down to rain steadily. All this time, Team Fusion had been putting in steady laps, Rotary Racer had avoided any further incidents & were now leading the race, & R-PodS ssc was just out of the top ten due to suffering more black flags & then having a tyre bead fail, requiring a trip to the paddock. The rain poured & the race carried on, with & R-PodS ssc now the fastest car on the rapidly thinning track, near the end of the race, R-PodS ssc was barged out of the way into one of the cones, but after a brief stop to check all was well, was back on the circuit. As the flag came down, Rotary Racer had just been beaten to first place but amazingly R-PodS ssc had managed to climb back up to take third. Team Fusion achieved their best mileage this year with 73 miles in a very respectable 18th place & we now have all three teams qualified for the final.

Traditional Taunton

The Somerset heat was held at a new venue this year (RNAS Merrifield) and attracted a strong field of cars. The circuit was a well laid out triangle, similar to Dunsfold but the main straight was slightly uphill and into a strengthening headwind so it was all set to be a challenging race. There wasn’t an F24+ event so the school was represented by “Team Fusion” (with the Wacky Racer’s old car), “Rotary Racer” & “R-PodS SSC”.

The day was bright & breezy as we arrived and queued up for scrutineering. Pretty soon, all the cars were scrutineered & out for practice prior to a very civilised 12:00 race start. We managed to get all the cars to the start in record time so it was a Chipping Sodbury lock-out on the front row of the grid, with all three cars lined up together.

As the race started, Taunton School pulled out an early lead but were soon to fall foul of the max lap limit, “Rotary Racer” was in second with “R-PodS SSC” in close attendance. The second & third places changed a few times as the slower cars were lapped until the telemetry on Rotary Racer showed a battery fault, resulting in a dramatic throttle back to conserve power. With Taunton suffering a time penalty & “Rotary Racer’s” battery problems, “R-PodS SSC” took the lead. We had a worrying pit stop when it appeared that one of “R-PodS SSC’s” tyres had a puncture, but this was pumped back up & stayed up for the remainder of the race. “Team Fusion” were lapping well at first but suffered the perennial battery problems and had to sit out part of the race in the hope of some battery recovery. They were not alone in this as the headwind caused many cars to suffer & the field dramatically thinned in the last half hour of the race. As the race drew to a close, “Rotary Racer” was wound back up & was lapping well but the Taunton car had broken, so was unable to challenge the leaders, “R-PodS SSC” was in a comfortable position, 7 laps ahead of the field. “Rotary Racer” managed to pull up to second place so it was a Chipping Sodbury 1,2.

This circuit was a great new venue, there was a very friendly atmosphere, the marshals were excellent very good - it was a traditional Greenpower race near Taunton. The pit lane was fairly quiet, so some teams were allowed to do some maintenance in the pits, very much like when we were first involved…. when races were less hectic… & there was more time … all 6 hours of it…!

London Calling

An Eco Car Spectacular was held at the Mall in London last Sunday & The Pod Movement we’re asked to represent Chipping Sodbury School at the event. This is the first time such an event has been held & was supported by Prince Charles's environmental charity initiative Start.

The Mall was closed to traffic & an interesting array of cars were on display all day with various celebrities milling around and having a drive. Greenpower had been invited to display and had gathered 8 cars from various schools around the country, so had a most impressive collection. We were able to round up 4 team members, and took Y-Pod?! along instead of R-PodS SSC, to avoid the hassle of finding somewhere to park a trailer in central London. The cars on display included the TELSA roadster, the first public viewing of the Citroen Survolt, along with various runabout electric cars by THINK, Mitsubishi, Smart, and Mini. There were loads of electric motorbikes, scooters & a few Segways. One of the more impressive exhibits was a Krieger electric car from 1904, brought along by the science museum - if was pretty slow (up to 20mph), but had front wheel drive and a range of up to 50 miles…!

Most of the morning was taken up with the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace, but this certainly attracted the crowds…! After lunch all the cars drove the length of the Mall & back as a demonstration run before setting up as a static display again. The public were separated by low barriers so were able to talk to the team & discuss the cars & their performance. We managed to attract a fair number of celebrities for photos, including Sir Stirling Moss, Robert Llewellyn, Ellen McArther and Gaby Roslin. The day wrapped up with a final demonstration run, more questions from the crowd & finally, some excellent cupcakes from the VIP tent.

Mallory Mighthavebeen

For the first ever Greenpower race at Mallory park, we only had Y-Pod?! representing the school in the F24+ race. We were a little late getting our entry confirmed & missed out on the rather crucial piece of information that the paddock was inside the circuit & inaccessible by car once the circuit was in use. We arrived just after practice had started & so were stuck on the outside of the circuit. Fortunately we managed to get the car scrutineered in the car park but even that only gave us 30 mins after practice to drive to the paddock, get the car unloaded, ready & onto the circuit for the start of the race… Amazingly, we were not the last car on the grid, but we were too late for the front row.

As the race started, Brian & Zebedee shot into an early lead with RGS & Y-Pod?! in 3rd & 4th. After a few laps, Zebedee pulled into the pits with totally flat batteries & Brian throttled back in an attempt to finish the race. RGS took the lead with Y-Pod?! not far behind… and that is how it stood for the remainder of the race with Y-Pod?! keeping close but not able to close the gap. As the chequered flag came down, Y-Pod?! was only a minute behind the leader, having to settle for second, but having been on the podium in all the F24+ events, Y-Pod?! was still leading the championship. If only we had been 1% faster it would have been our second win of the year… what might have been…

We came away thinking that Mallory Park was a fantastic new venue for Greenpower, good spectator viewing from all round the circuit and a great setting..!

A Roll, Results & Retirement

Castle Combe was the first race for ages where all five Chipping Sodbury School cars were present. Unfortunately, Wacky Racer did not have enough drivers so they loaned their car to an independent team founded by some ex Chipping Sodbury members, Chain reaction, who had not completed their car.
Practice is usually an uneventful time so we were all surprised to see the ambulance go racing out soon after it started, with sirens blazing.
It transpired that Rotary Racer had rolled at quarry corner, thankfully no-one was hurt but the car had suffered damage & was excluded from the race.

The F24+ race started on time & as expected Zebedee & Brian pulled out an early lead with the Tything Tornadoes & Y-Pod?! close behind. A the end of the first lap, Y-Pod?! had pulled into third place and the positions remained set for the remainder of the race. Just before the finish, Zebedee & Brian lapped the Tything Tornadoes, with Y-Pod?! half a lap behind in third.

In F24, with Rotary Racer out of the race, Zebedee & Brian were unchallenged for the lead. Having dropped the gearing on R-PodS SSC for the Castle Combe hill, we were amazed to find ourselves in third place. We held this position for much of the race, occasionally dropping behind the Simple Trug clone, Maltings Missile.
Despite working hard on their car all over the winter, Team Fusion had to rush to complete their car for the race. After getting through scrutineering, their race started with high hopes, only to be dashed at the start line as their car stopped with a detached chain. They managed to get back out, but a combination of tyre and brake problems resulted in a burnt out motor and a rather sad retirement.
Wacky Racers car went well, achieving a respectable 20th place, pretty good as their car was a last minute rescue.
The race was drawing to a close & we had scheduled one last pit stop for R-PodS SSC. Unfortunately as we entered the pit lane we were stuck behind a very (very) slow car loosing nearly a lap in the time it took to negotiate the pit lane. To make matters worse, it transpired that the driver of this car had only stopped for a drink..!
We were sure this additional delay had cost us third place but were very pleased to find that the Simple Trug clone had stopped on the last lap, allowing us to take our first podium of the year…

A good result for the school given the disastrous start for two of the school cars. We came away with two third places and retained the Renishaw cup for the best placed Gloucestershire car.

Goodwood Goodwin Goodspin

Three Chipping Sodbury School cars made the trek down to Goodwood for the Central South Regional Heat in June.

As usual, the weather was good we got the cars scrutineered in record time. Y-Pod?! was rapidly installed on the F24+ grid with little time to spare as we all crossed our fingers as the race started. At the end of the first lap, The Tything Tornadoes crossed the line first with Y-Pod?! in close pursuit. At the end of the main straight Y-Pod?! overtook The Tything Tornadoes, followed closely by Mandrill & this set the scene for much of the remainder of the race. For lap after lap, Mandrill kept close watch, never far behind until the last few laps when Y-Pod?! managed to pull a comfortable lead and claim the first F24+ result of the year.

In the F24 race, the school was represented by Rotary Racer & R-PodS SSC with a significant grid of cars, promising an exciting race. Rotary Racer were aiming to get a platinum award & quickly pulled out a significant lead. R-PodS SSC was struggling to match last years form but was still managing to hold onto second place as the race settled down.
There were some very inexperienced drivers present & we witnessed some ridiculously fast entries down the pit lane. As R-PodS SSC was approaching the pits in the second half of the race, one of these drivers followed us in, far too fast. The marshals gestured for him to slow down but our driver slowed even more, thinking they were gesturing to him… This resulted in our battery pod being rear-ended, thankfully with no serious damage.
As the race drew to a close, we were told that they may be calling our car in as it appeared to have a bucked wheel – it turned out that we had two flat tyres. Our driver carried on regardless, thinking he could get to the pits but eventually the tyre partly came off, resulting in a locked wheel and a very alarming 360deg spin off the circuit.
With R-PodS SSC recovered & new tyres fitted we were back on the circuit & ploughing back up the field. The only remaining incident was a minor collision as a slower car swerved in an attempt to avoid being overtaken – they managed to hit the inside of the driver pod but again the car only suffered a minor scratch.
As the race finished, Rotary Racer took the flag after an uneventful race, we were amazed to find R-PodS SSC had pulled back up to fifth place, an amazing result considering we had two collisions, two punctures & a spin.