The eighth annual Greenpower Electric Car Races for Schools Formula 24 National Final took place on Sunday 15th October at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex. The circuit was unusually silent for the day as the power source of each car is a small electric motor.
The unique Greenpower Formula 24 project encourages students in Years 7-11 to consider engineering and technology as a career. Entrants are provided with identical electric motors and batteries, then must design and build their car to the supplied Formula 24 specification, before racing in a series of six-hour endurance events.
The National Final was the culmination of the 2006 racing season, where 10 six-hour regional heats have taken place around the country. The top 75 cars from the heats proceed to the Final, where they battle it out over a gruelling six-hour race on the full 2.4 mile Goodwood circuit.
Each team consists of six drivers and six pit crew to help change batteries and drivers during the six-hour marathon. With all the team supporters and spectators, thousands of people arrived to watch the race.
Sussex Schools returned to the top of the competition, taking first and third places, with the Greenpower champions for the past two years (Furze Platt School in Maidenhead) confined to second position. The winning car covered an impressive 201 miles in the six hours.
There was plenty to see at the event, not only with the racing on track, but various displays and exhibitions too. A hydrogen powered generator provided power to some of the teams’ battery chargers, in the carbon neutral charging area. The exhibitors’ marquee housed exhibitions from the Royal Air Force, The Army, and regional and national sponsors of Greenpower.
The Sussex Safety Camera Partnership also provided their ‘SID’ device for keeping speeds down below 6mph in the pitlane.
The Greenpower series is supported by a number of important regional and national sponsors, including the Ford Motor Company, Cenex, The Learning Grid – a DTI initiative to promote engineering, The Environment Agency, Scalextric, and the University of Southampton.
