On the day itself when we arrived at Silverstone, the track was quite a sight; we went past that to the pit stops where a mini course was set out for us.  Immediately we began to unpack our gear, charge the batteries and assign different jobs for different people.  Chris Houlton, Alex Maher and I, were assigned the job of drivers.  Straight away I was nervous, nervous that something might go wrong whilst I was driving.  My race came; I handed in our aluminium car and proceeded on to the daunting podium.  My legs were shaking, my arms were numb and my mind – set on victory!

 

The lights began to count down to zero, and suddenly we were off.  Zooming round the track, I achieved an astounding 18 laps!  When my turn was over, I felt proud and valiant.  We picked up our unharmed car and headed off back to the pit stops to check on it and charge the batteries.  Because of my near perfect performance, I adopted the name of ‘Son of the Stig’.  Then it was Chris’ turn, his chance to feel nervous and proud at the same time.  We were intending to swap the cars for the next race, but it was against the rules which rendered us unable to switch.

Chris’ turn came around; he handed in the car and preceded the podium.  He started well but the car he was racing seemed to be the centre of attention for murderous others.  After an assortment of all kinds of possible clashes and crashes he finished on a respectable 15 laps.

Even though both of these races accounted for a good number of laps, we just failed to qualify for the finals.

 

Regardless of our failure, we stayed on to watch the finals of the electric and IC (petrol fuelled) cars.  Both of these were intense races, but especially the IC.  One of the cars, numbered 1, had an exceptionally good driver on the remote.  He went round so casually, almost perfect every time.  I, and I assume we, were all grasped by his control and precision.

 

Finally we left Silverstone to return home.  Even though we were disappointed with our result, we can’t wait for next year!

 

At six forty five a group of eleven boys were in school.  Strange though this is, we were here for a reason:  we were traveling down to Silverstone to race our car we had built during the year.  Two hours later we arrived at Silverstone.  Having set kit up in the pit lane, as used by teams at grand prix events, we set off for the first race.  Alex Maher took the wheel, well remote (LOL), and set off in a storm; we came second in the first heat.  After a battery change and refreshment break we started our second race.  This time Chris Houlton took the wheel and came fifth.  We then set off to look at the sponsors exhibits; approximately fifteen companies were there, including universities, engineering companies and power stations.  A good hour later the results were published, we had just failed to qualify for the finals.  After watching the finals we came back to Nottingham on a rather more rowdy minibus

 

After a cold and early start to the day, we found ourselves in the school minibus heading down the M1 on the way to Silverstone. After a two hour long journey and a quick diesel stop we found ourselves parking up and receiving our passes. The day started quite sharply after finding out we were in one of the very first races of the day. We were all quickly put in charge of different positions and attempted to find out what we were supposed to be doing. In the first race after 18 laps of tense racing we found out we had come in a very respectable second place. After about an hour of tinkering with the car, the second heat was quickly approaching. Unfortunately the competition had heated up and as such we only managed a total of 15 laps. Even though both Alex Maher and Chris Houlton posted very quick laps we ended up just outside qualification for the final.

We decided to stop at Silverstone to watch both the IC final and the electric final. Also we walked around all the exhibits and found out some interesting information about other competitions available to us and saw some of the best racing cars around including the Subaru Impreza and the Williams F1 car. Unfortunately the weather started to turn and we decided to leave. So we all returned to the minibus and left. After a long day we were all relieved to be home even if we were all slightly disappointed with our result. Now all that remains is to prepare for next year.