After a fantastically successful year, Chipping Sodbury School have managed to top all their achievements by becoming National Champions with three podium finishes at the National final.
This was a fantastic final for the four school cars that qualified this year, we started the day with the following positions:
Y-Pod?! joint third in the F24+ championship.
R-PodS SSC & Rotary Racer qualified second & third on the F24 Grid with Wacky Racer in a respectable 30th place. The schools fifth car, Team Fusion was only completed for the last hour of the last heat so were unfortunately unable to be there.
The cars lined up on the grid with Seaford College's SCO7 and Zebedee from Sandbach High School keen to re-assert their grip on the championship. At 1pm the start flag was lowered and by the first corner Zebedee was first with Rotary Racer and R-PodS SSC not far behind. Around 3 hours into the race Zebedee suffered a puncture after a racing incident this gave them a small delay allowing Rotary Racer and R-PodS SSC to move into 1st and 2nd places. Towards the end of the race all the cars were slowing, and the nervous energy was growing, but our cars managed to get the balance of speed and energy just about right. Rotary Racer managed to achieve 1st place, with a millage of 120 miles in 4 hours. R-PodS SSC couldn’t achieve the pace they had set earlier in the season so had to settle for 3rd place, only just missing out on a 2nd place to SCO7. Wacky Racer was running well in about 10th place, but failing batteries lead them to a still respectable 41th place. An excellent race and a fine end to the F24 season.
The F24+ races are for the older students and are held alongside the F24 races. To add extra spice, there is a manufacturers championship with the points from the best two heats added to those from the final. Our car "Y-Pod?!" was upholding the school honours and as the final approached, there were only two points separating the top four cars. The race started promptly at 10:30 and all eyes were on the "Shell" corner to see who would come around first. As expected, the championship leader "Zebedee" from Sandbach High School came into view first with the other three championship contenders, including our "Y-Pod?!" close behind. After a few laps the race had settled down & we were holding a secure third place, only to loose it at the half way mark when we pitted to change drivers. As the race drew to a close, the top runners all started to struggle with expiring batteries but "Y-Pod?!" was continuing at almost the same pace. On the last lap we managed to overtake the race leader & un-lap ourselves, finally taking a very respectable third place.
The last qualification race of the year was the Greater London heat, held at the Top Gear circuit, Dunsfold park. There was a substantial grid for both the F24 & F24+ races, so with a number of 'big name' schools present, we were not expecting a fantastic result. Team Fusion were debuting their new car, Rotary Racer had a new driver & The Pod Movement were mainly after driver experience in traffic.
As with this race last year, the drive down was foggy, but the forecast was good. The sun was shining well as the cars went through scrutineering & there was very little wind. Team Fusion had to perform some remedial work before getting through scrutineering, but managed to get out for a brief practice. Unfortunately, their practice ended with a steering problem, but Seaford College offered to take the car back to school & rebuild the steering. Both the Rotary Racer team & The Pod Movement had been testing batteries before the race & found them to be well down on capacity, so a good showing was looking even more in doubt.
For once, Y-Pod?! didn’t manage to get on the front row of the F24+ grid, so we were starting from the middle of the field. As we expected, ‘Simple Trug’ shot into a clear lead with Y-Pod?! soon half a lap behind, the rest of the field was strung out behind with only ‘Super Swoosh 3000’ in real contention. After a few laps, ‘Super Swoosh 3000’ came in with chain problems, so our second place was looking fairly secure. At the half way mark, Joe handed the car to Alex and things started to get a bit more interesting as ‘Super Swoosh 3000’ was now back out on the track & lapping fast. Given the state if our batteries, we were unable to make any impression on ‘Simple Trug’ who took a well deserved win, we managed to keep second, and maintain our joint 3rd position in the F24+ championship.
With a bit more planning, we managed to get both Rotary Racer & R-PodSssc on the front of the grid and as the flag fell, they both quickly pulled ahead of the field. Rotary Racer managed to pull past R-PodSssc on the main straight but some inspired driving by Issy, saw R-PodSssc re-take the lead before the end of the first lap. There then followed a tense half hour as both school cars repeatedly swapped the lead, taking it in turns to be held up with slower cars. After the first round of pit stops, R-PodSssc had managed to pull out a lead on Rotary Racer and that was how it remained for the mid portion of the race. Seaford College eventually returned with a repaired car for Team Fusion and they rejoined for the last hour of the race, by this time, the batteries on R-PodSssc were failing this allowed Rotary Racer to take the lead. Things were getting tense with several fast cars on the circuit & us wondering if R-PodSssc would make the end of the race, Team Fusion were lapping reliably and regularly overtaking R-PodSssc. Thanks to their sophisticated electronics, Rotary Racer had been able to conserve energy & were lapping steadily at the front.
As the race drew to a close, many cars on the circuit were slowing, Rotary Racer kept lapping steadily & took a well deserved first place, along with the fastest lap of the day, R-PodSssc managed to hold onto second, only missing out on the fastest lap of the day by a few fractions of a second. Despite only being on the track for a quarter of the race, Team Fusion achieved a reliable run with two cars behind them (including one from Seaford College) - with 7 teams not even managing to even make the race, it is a credit to Team Fusion.
In recognition of the assistance they gave, Seaford College were awarded the 'Spirit of Greenpower' award - an amazing effort to help the school – a big thanks from all of us.
As with last year there was only one lone car & driver making the long trek up to Liverpool for the F24+ race. The forecast was for showers, our batteries were very much down on capacity & with Brian & Zebedee both entered, we very nearly stayed at home. As it was Alex's last season, the Aintree track is superb & everyone seems very friendly up there, in the end, we decided it was worth the journey.
The race started slightly early and despite both Brian & Zebedee jumping the start, 4 cars were all in line as they entered the first corner, as they went up the hill, Brian & Zebedee were slipstreaming each other & pulling away. Alex thought he wouldn't see them again for a while but as Y-Pod?! rounded the last corner before the main straight, he found Brian & Zebedee only just in front & Y-Pod?! gaining. As they all came back into view from the paddock, we were astounded to see that Y-Pod?! was in front with all three cars almost nose to tail. Zebedee soon re- took the lead, followed closely by Brian, with Y-Pod?! hot on their tails. That was the last we saw of Zebedee for a while as they suffered battery connection problems, so for the next few laps, Brian & Y-Pod?! swapped the lead as the two cars were faster on different parts of the circuit. Alex decided that given the poor state of the batteries, he had better throttle back & accept a likely second place, so it looked like becoming a fairly dull race after the early excitement. Just as we were putting the lap board out to mark the half way point, Brian came off the circuit into the paddock - Y-Pod?! was not far behind so we were now in the lead…! After a lap & a half, Brian rejoined the race & slowly started to haul in our lead, Zebedee was back out & storming around but had lost too much time to be a threat to our position. With 5 minutes left to go, Brian had almost caught up but was going almost as slowly as us. As the cars came back into view for what we hoped would be the last lap, Brian had crept past & Alex was faced with a choice between conserving the batteries & to allow another lap or going for it & re-taking the lead. Alex decided on a final push, so as he rounded the last corner he was in the lead but the batteries were almost finished, the person finishing the race was still consulting with the timekeepers so disappointment set in, as we were sure Brian would take the lead if the race went for another lap. At the last moment the time ran out & the chap ran to the track side & waved the chequered flag - we had won our first F24+ race of the season & made it two wins at Aintree in a row… well & truly astounding!
Our local race saw all four school teams represented, but unfortunately team Fusion had not managed to complete their car so were there to help with marshalling, rather than racing. Wacky Racer were hoping to better their qualification mileage of 84 miles with a few changes & slim tyres. Rotary Racer were aiming to achieve their 2nd consecutive win at the circuit but had some new drivers to train. The Pod Movement were hoping for reliability with Y-Pod?! in F24+ and R-PodS SSC in F24, the main hope was to try & maintain their second qualification place for the final.
The F24+ race started promptly with a reasonable field of 8 cars. As expected, Brian & Zebedee took an early lead with Y-Pod?! not far behind and the other cars further back. After a few laps, the back cover started coming off Zebedee but the driver showed no sign of slowing till they were eventually forced back into the paddock with a puncture & to have the back taped up. This left us to take over second place. The rest of the race was fairly uneventful & we held second place till the end, despite our driver change. We were surprised to see the car stop immediately after the chequered flag & later found out we had two punctures in the rear tyres - luckily they only happened on the last lap so we managed to hold onto our second place.
The F24 race started well with Zebedee pulling into an early lead, closely followed by Rotary Racer and R-PodS SSC not far behind. As the race panned out, Zebedee was pulled off the circuit with a sheared wheel bolt - not helped by the bumpy nature of the track. This allowed Rotary Racer into the lead and R-PodS SSC into second, with Wacky Racer doing well further down the field. A rapidly improving SC07 soon overhauled R-PodS SSC so we gave up hope of a 1 - 2 finish & started to think a 1 - 3 might be possible. Wacky Racer had been doing well but along with many other cars, suffered a puncture and lost a lot of time changing tyres, by this time Zebedee was back on the track & scorching around the circuit.
As the race drew to a close, Zebedee was overhauling R-PodS SSC and we started to think our third place was in doubt - on the last lap our fears were realised as we were overtaken, having to be satisfied with fourth. Rotary Racer didn't falter & held the lead continuously since Zebedee's problems - Wacky Racer finished a disappointing 26th place after their punctures but had some consolation in that they were ahead of both the Furze Platt cars and only 11 miles behind TSR4.
The weather was wonderful and it was a truly Great Western Race…!
Three school teams made their way to Goodwood for the Central South Heat. The weather forecast had been bad all week but we drove down in reasonable weather with high hopes for a good day. Wacky Racer were racing their 2008 car and looked great with their new logos on their overalls, Rotary Racer were debuting their new car (only finished the day before), while The Pod Movement were racing "Y-Pod?!" in F24+ and "R-PodS SSC" (after some hasty repairs) in F24.
The F24+ race was a disaster (for the second consecutive year) with the car failing on the start line due to a chain coming off, this was soon fixed but we were a lap & half down by the time we re-joined the race. The first stint with the first driver went well with the car flying around & a suspected race fastest lap, but the batteries seemed to be fading so the first pit stop was a bit early. The second driver took over but soon came back in with what appeared to be flat batteries. This was soon traced to a bad connection (burning a hole through the surrounding wood) so the car was back out again & storming around. The eventual result of fourth place was a bit disappointing but they had both enjoyed the driving & dispite the car only being out for 50 minutes (of the 90) it was a mere 1 lap off second.
The F24 race started on time with a very substantial grid lined up and both Rotary Racer & "R-PodS SSC" on the front of the grid. At the start, our second S car soon pulled away to an impressive lead with Rotary Racer close behind. Due to a misunderstanding, R-PodS SSC came in to pit half way through the first driver’s session and this gave the lead to the Rotary Racer, only for R-PodSssc to take it back at the next driver change. With half an hour to go the positions were the same with R-PodS SSC having pulled out a 2 lap lead over the Rotary Racer. The last few laps were very tense, with R-PodS SSC needing a battery change right at the end. At the chequered flag R-PodS SSC crossed the line in first place, with Rotary Racer a lap behind in second. This race was the first F24 race R-PodS has ever won and it is the first time in 3 years that The Pod Movement has automatically qualified for The National Final.
We were happy enough to have got a school 1,2 finish at Goodwood but to really add to our result R-PodS received the “best presented team” award and Y-Pod?! received the “most innovative use of recycled materials” award. A medal haul of 3 awards at one race is the best result The Pod Movement has had in its 5 season history.
With all this action happening at the front of the field it is easy to forget about the 3rd Chipping Sodbury team racing. For only their second 4 hour endurance race, the Wacky Racers did very well. They showed excellent reliabiltity (Except from a minor issue leaving the grid), finishing a highly credible 9th place.
The Pod Movement were the only school team to make the trek to Rockingham with their two cars "Y-Pod?!" and "R-PodS SSC". Unfortunately one of our regular drivers couldn’t make the race so we 'borrowed' Gareth (one of the Rotary Racer drivers) for the event - a chance for him to try one of their competitor’s cars first hand… Our usual van wasn't available so we had been building a trailer for the few weeks before the race - this was only finished at 1:00 on the morning of the race so car preparation had to take a second place with unfortunate consequences...
This race was held on a week day as part of the learning grid initiative, so apart from the impressive field of 48 cars, there were plenty of spectators who were there visiting the learning grid events. Both cars were quickly through scrutineering & Y-Pod?! was asked to demonstrate the correct pit stop maneuvour during the drivers briefing, unfortunately this took longer than expected, so the car was late of the start of the race and had to start from the pit lane, losing at least half a lap. The F24+ race was uneventful with Y-Pod?! managing to claw its way back up to fourth place, with third in sight if the race had continued.
The F24 race started well with "R-PodS SSC" in the lead after the first lap, soon to be overhauled by Zebedee (from Sandbach school) who shot into an unassailable lead. After 3 hours, the situation was the same with "R-PodS SSC" in a very secure second place & everyone started talking about how dull the race was… this is always a bad thing to do, for at the next pit stop the motor twisted & the chain came off… a weld on the motor mount bracket had failed but we managed to brace it with a spanner, cable tied in place to stop it falling out. The car was back in the race & we were soon back in second again only to have another unscheduled stop with a puncture - after this was fixed we had dropped to fifth place with less than half an hour to go. All was going well & we had even briefly overtaken the race winner when we had a second puncture & had to be retuned on the recovery truck. At the end we had managed to make up a place and achieve fourth.
A final thanks to Gareth for standing in & driving so well in a strange car...
On Sunday 26th April four cars from Chipping Sodbury School’s Greenpower team travelled to the Goodwood racing circuit to take part in the traditional opening event of the season.
There were two races on the day, the first was the Season Opener, open to all cars and a 90 minute race with only one set of batteries. Team ‘Wacky Racers’ carried the flag for CSS and pitted their wits in a field of 23 cars from schools across the UK. At the end of 90 minutes they came home in a highly credible 8th place having completed 15 laps totalling 36 miles. This was a tight race with the winners completing only 3 laps more and many seasoned cars behind them at the finishing line.
The second race of the day was the Corporate Challenge. This race consisted of the top 15 cars from the National Final racing against 11 entries from various companies in the UK. This year saw entries from Jaguar/Landrover, Renishaw, MajorLift and Prodrive amongst others. CSS fielded three cars in this 4 hour endurance race, Rotary Racer, R-Pods and S-Pod all took to the line with not only a keen rivalry between themselves but also extreme rivalry against regular opponents from other schools from across the country.
The race itself was a hard fought nail-biter. Rotary Racer and R-Pods had the front of the field firmly in their sights as they fought for a high position throughout the race. At the end of four hours R-Pods won through with a stunning 2nd place finish behind a corporate entry from Greenpower’s own scrutineers. Rotary Racer had a highly respectable 4th place, equalling their distance in the Final, behind another Corporate entry from Fordingbridge. They also picked up the IMeche Best Engineered Car award. Despite some early mechanical problems, S-Pod climbed the field recording some strong lap times and covering over 93 miles. The relatively lowly position of 14th place reflected the quality of the field, but even this was ahead of the National Final winner and both Jaguar/Landrover, Renishaw and Prodrive
Significantly, Chipping Sodbury School’s R-Pods and Rotary Racer were the top two placed school entry cars in the country. R-Pods achieved the feat of 50 laps which has only been achieved by 2 other cars in the history of Greenpower’s 4 hour endurance race. Neither of which will take part in the rest of this season’s events.
As the 2009 seasons takes off CSS are superbly positioned as leaders of the pack and looking forward to a promising (if somewhat nerve-wracking) season.
