With all 4 Chipping Sodbury cars qualifying for the Formula 24 National final it was going to be an exciting race. Rotary Racer was looking to maintain the performance that saw it qualify in third place, R pod was a keen as ever to improve and prove it was capable of bettering its Gold performance at the Avon heat, S Factor was in buoyant mood after winning the Dorset heat several weeks earlier and the Aderley Flyers were looking for a good race consolidating the year's efforts.
Also up for grabs was the best presented team award, R Pod had pulled out all the stops for this with a variety of show stopping displays and Rotary Racer would have won the biggest banner award if there was such a thing.
At eleven o'clock precisely the race got under way, as expected the streamliners came round first but Rotary Racer and R Pod were mixing it with the best of them, after an hour Rotary Racer lost it's canopy which slowed it down slightly and R Pod was putting in consistent lap times despite trying out a new driver as Sam “one of the regular drivers” had broken his fingers in a push bike accident and was unable to drive.
At the mid point in the race Rotary Racer had slipped down the field a few places due to a couple of incidents such as the chain coming off and a few excursions onto the grass but was still running strong, R Pod was still churning out the laps but S factor was not performing as expected as a hike in the gear ratio was proving to much for the batteries and the Aderley Flyers had suffered a broken weld and a puncture.
As the race drew to a close and the batteries started to fade, Rotary Racer had crept back up the field and was in a race with two other cars for fourth place, R Pod had done well and was holding on to tenth place but the old problem of fading batteries was causing a few worried looks, S Factor had slipped down the field as the batteries couldn't cope with the increased gearing and the Aderley Flyers had fixed their problems and put in some solid laps.
At Five o'clock the chequered flag came out and the race was over, the Rotary Racer lost out in the battle for fourth by two laps and finished a very respectable sixth, but better still it had increased its milage from Castle Combe to 168 miles, R Pod finished in tenth place also increasing it's best milage to 154 miles, S Factor was 54th with 117 miles and Aderley Flyers managed 75th place and 60 miles.
We arrived at the Top Gear circuit all excited to be driving on the hallowed tarmac. The perimeter road frightened us as it was in such a poor state but the actual circuit was fine. The race used only half of the figure of 8 circuit as someone seemed to think it would be dangerous if the cars had to cross in the middle....? Anyway, before scruitineering we had the first torrential downpour with the wind ripping several Gazebos & tents away. We decided to wear our old (small by now) blue overalls & keep the red ones dry to try & stop the car misting up. The race started badly as our pusher (who will remain nameless to protect the guilty) was in a dream & forgot to fully turn the key..... We had hardly touched the car over the summer & the Velcro was getting fairly worn on the window - the strong wind blew it out fairly soon but it was recovered & was fine (the advantages of polycarbonate). Our drivers enjoyed the circuit & it had examples of some of top gear's escapades parked near the hangers. Our first pit stop took ages as we hadn't practiced since the last race but we improved for our second stop & first driver change. After the second recovery of the window (which we now taped in to stop a third loss) we were getting into a good rhythm when the race was stopped due to the crash. After the troubles & two extra pit stops, we had we were amazed to claim a 5th place, beating all the F35 cars!
We had a quick practice after the race as Matthew had joined the team & it was his first F24 race since graduating form the Old Sodbury Goblin (winner of the 2005 Goblin race of champions & the 2006 slalom).
When the race was cancelled, we sat in the van with the wind and rain around us, drinking tea & chatting while the other teams packed away.... overall, a memorable day despite all the wind & rain.
Last Saturday saw the last heat in this year’s calendar before the school summer break. Two cars from Chipping Sodbury School travelled up to Darley Moor to compete against 26 other cars battling for one of the three qualifying places for the National Final.
The race started at 11am following the Sport Relief Mile (and a half !). It was a highly competitive race that had its incidents and temperatures soared causing many pink faces by the end of the day. However, it was all worthwhile as R-Pod took first place and the chequered flag at 5pm for the first time in its eight race history, ensuring it reached the final by right. Over the six-hour race it covered 96 laps of the 1.5 mile circuit covering a total of 144 miles.
The Alderley Flyer also completed the six hours – no mean feat on four car batteries. It completed 54 laps covering a total of 81 miles and now awaits completion of the other heats in September to see if it qualifies for the final as one of the furthest distance runner-ups.
Rotary Racer and R Pod entered their home heat on Sunday with high expectations, both cars have come within a whisker of Gold at recent races and Castle Combe would be their best chance yet. They did not disappoint, Rotary Racer “in its latest form” was flying, achieving 162.8 miles and a brilliant second place. R pod suffered fading batteries in the last part of the race but got the Gold with 151.7 miles and fourth place. Well done to both teams, a fantastic effort.
Lets not forget Chipping Sodburys other teams, S factor came within a whisker of a Bronze on their first outing with 99.9 miles, they might have achieved a Silver had they not spent some time in the pits with a steering problem. Alderely Flyer managed 77.7 miles and found out afterwards that they had gear selection problems and were stuck in bottom gear.
The team arrived at Goodwood with high hopes, we knew that R-Pod suited the track well. It was father's day so we made a banner and bought some champagne for the dad's (which is why, if anybody saw us, there were a group of adults drinking around the R-Pod paddock at ten in the morning!). This was going to be our first race with 4 wheel covers & we set off well, all in good spirits. We were brought down to earth on the third lap when the car coasted to a halt opposite the pits. We recovered the car to find the motor had dropped off & was tangled around the drive chain. We sent one driver running around in the heat to try & find a new motor while the rest of us took the wheel cover off to see what had broken. We discovered the two motor bolts had pulled through the aluminium bracket so set about finding longer bolts to pass through a cross member underneath. We had just about worked out what to do, when the driver came back having found someone & obtained a new (but now unnecessary) motor. After fixing the motor, we set about enjoying the race & getting experience with the modified car - getting a 5th place & the same mileage as in the handicap race (with half an hour less time) was a good way to end the day.
