The Derby Grammar Schools F24+ Greenpower racing team achieved their highest ever placing in the 2019 season finals held at Silverstone earlier this month.

Two teams headed off to Silverstone, the home of motor racing. The F24 team is for boys in Years 7 to 10, and the F24+ team for older pupils in Years 11 to 13. Both teams work on the school’s racing car, The Stag, and through ongoing design refinements and improvements have seen significant progress in all of their races this year.

Some of the fastest lap times ever achieved ensured the qualification of both teams for the national finals.

Following arrival and scrutineering the F24+ team headed out onto the track first and covered 26.4 miles in their race.

They finished 11th nationally, their highest ever placing in the F24+ team's history. Sixth Former, Fraser Heatlie from Boylestone went out on a high with his final drive at the final.

He is now leaving the Greenpower team after five years of participation to concentrate on his A Levels.

The younger F24 team put in some very fast laps that could have placed them high on the leaderboard, but unfortunately mechanical gremlins halted progress.

Ted Gushlow from Littleover said: “It’s a shame we had reliability problems, but it makes us more determined for a strong performance for next season.”

Alex Hill, from Ingleby, said: “I found it an incredibly exciting experience and very much enjoyed traveling and then racing at the heart of British motorsport!”

Mr Lakritz, Assistant Head (Academic) and Greenpower Racing lead said: “The teams have worked really hard on developing and refining the car this year and so I was delighted when they both got through to the national finals and was very proud of what they achieved.

Next season sees some of our older boys from the F24 team moving on to the F24+ team. This means we have some new boys coming into the F24 team who will be our next generation of racers. We have also expanded the size of the team to 16 which means we can attend more races next year.

The existing team members who have graduated to the F24+ team will be mentoring the new recruits in the technical and organisation issues that the Greenpower experience provides.”

Powered by Pressburst | Terms & Privacy