3rd May 2017
The start of the 2017 race season. Now we find out whether all that pit practice has paid off. How ready are we for the season opener at Rockingham Motor Speedway circuit.
The first test was to see if the team could all get to school for the early start of 5.45am before loading up and setting off on the 2 hour journey to Rockingham. When we had all arrived at Rockingham we all felt that the journey took far longer than it had.
Time to dust everything off, unload the cars, go through scruitineering and out to practice. This was the first time that some of the new, younger team members had driven the cars it was important to get everyone out on the track in the practice time so that they could experience the track conditions.
Before racing began we had time for a team photo with the cars:
Becksy was at the ready with the Silverline first aid kit should it be called into action
And it was needed but not on our car. We were able to help out another team who had arrived at the race only to find issues with the brakes on their car so we were able to help them out and get them up and running. A big thankyou to them for nominating the team for the 'Spirit of Greenpower' award.
Finally racing began. Greenpower races are not for those who like a quiet calm afternoon in the sunshine. Races are always very tense and full of unanswered questions: when are we going to pit? How will the batteries last? What part will the weather, especially the wind play in the cars performance? Have we left any loose bolts?
Dylan won the first race covering a distance of 35 miles in the 90 minutes. Dougal finished third with 33 miles.
Before the second race it was time to change the batteries
Time for a quick team talk. 1st and 3rd in the first race was really good but could we make it a 1st and 2nd. No pressure then...!
Another nail biting 90 minutes followed Dylan was vying for first place with a number of different cars, how would it go? Dylan completed his pit stops earlier than the cars it was competing against so we had to wait for all the pit stops to take place to take back the lead. The wind was playing its part and cars were stopping on the track as they appeared to have run out of power. Batteries were being drained and the cars were moving slower and slower. The cars closest to Dylan were slowing at a faster rate and we were hopeful that as long as Dylan kept going it would be OK. But where would Dougal finish, Dougal was slowly moving up the places and another podium finish was possible. Would it be 2nd or would it be 3rd for Dougal? Dougal was overtaken so we were settling for another 3rd place finish but what? wait? the car in front of Dougal is slowing down rapidly, could this really be possible? Yes!! On the last lap Dougal overtook the car that had overtaken him previously and we had a 1,2 finish in the second race.
The news that we had a 1st and 2nd place quickly spread through the team and everyone was really excited as the team had performed really well.
When the distances of both races were calculated we finished with the overall 1st and 2nd prizes as well as the 'Spirit of Greenpower' and the Portfolio awards.
What a start to the season!! Next race in about 6 weeks time, will the new car be ready?