Dunsfold Park (Top Gear) track sees a triumphant 2nd place for the girls!

Sunday saw us depart school at our usual ridiculous 5.00 am for our last race before the forthcoming international final.

Mr Adams looks on from a foggy early morning at Dunsfold

A foggy track soon cleared into a beautiful late summer day and racing began with Projectile pushing hard and setting a cracking pace in race one with Megan driving in the bold and assertive manor that she is rapidly becoming known for. The car then sadly suffered a breakdown which saw the car out of the race for around 15 minutes....the main power relay had vibrated loose and unplugged itself causing complete power loss!!! Still, Fiona rejoined the race in last place and proceeded to begin winding in those ahead of her in dramatic style. Mitzi, our final driver of the race, continued to work hard and eventually managed to push all the way to a 4th place finish, an amazing effort considering the time out of the race!

Power chases Projectile!

 Meanwhile the boys job was to get our newest car "Power" qualified for the final. Adam drove brilliantly from the off, matching Projectile lap for lap until incredibly a mechanical breakdown occurred at EXACTLY the same time as Projectile broke down!!! Hectic action in the paddock followed, and thankfully Power had only suffered a displaced drive chain and was quickly sent back out with Nikhil skillfully making up lost laps throughout his drive. Power's final driver Alex Lee Ranson brought his experience to bear and gained yet more places finishing the race in a brilliant 5th place, a fantastic achievement for the car's second race this season!!!

On to the senior F24+ race which saw Lizzie starting the race from the pit lane but quickly pulling past her opposition and engaging in some incredibly close racing throughout the hour long race. Lizzie is an incredibly skilled and competent racing driver, whose lap times were so consistent that you could almost set a watch from them. She finished in 8th place and proudly once again beat apprentice teams from both Renishaw and Jaguar Landrover.

Cars line up on the grid for the start of race 2

The final race of the day and the pressure was truly on the year 10 girls to try and match the boys amazing achievement at Bedford race. Megan took off like a rocket at the start, quickly leading the field by half a lap for a long while before the legendary Rotary Racer began to wind her in. A brilliant pitstop and Fiona not only held second place, but continued to pull away from 3rd as she valiantly chased and tussled with the incredible Rotary. The amazing Mitzi had a slightly lengthy pit-stop due to some slow marshaling but drove like fury trying to hold onto second place even accidentally driving OVER a cone whilst chasing Rotary Racer!!! Mitzi eventually brought Projectile home to a rapturous 2nd place....an awesome finish to come second only to a team who have won practically everything they ever entered!

Still chasing!

In the same race Power ran beautifully and Alex Kay took the car from near the back of the grid to near the front before handing over to Michael Brandon who solidly lapped his way onward into a very promising 4th place before handing over to George Hammond and the final stint. Sadly for George the batteries were ailing and despite some great driving the car ran out of juice and was forced to stop 10 minutes before the end of the race. Despite that, Power managed to finish 10th in a field of 31 cars.....not bad team, not bad at all!!

The yr 10 team were thrilled to be presented their trophy by representatives from McLaren alongside the beautiful P650S hybrid prototype

SO!!! We now eagerly await the final on October the 11th at Rockingham Raceway....watch this space...

Bedford Heat and a WIN for Projectile

Bedford heat saw our first race of the season with 2 cars from the Plume stable attending in a field of 31 cars.

Race one, saw the year 10 girls start well with Megan Bramley enthusiastically pulling away from the front row of the grid and driving brilliantly reaching 2nd place right the way through her 30 minute stint. After a swift driver change Fiona Walton continued with some cracking lap times before an unfortunate incident caused the car to shed its drive chain and require recovery. Having sorted the problem the car headed back out with Mitzi Boyle taking the wheel and bringing Projectile home in a very credible 12th place.

Meanwhile the year 11 team headed out in the newly completed Plume Power with Yasmin Tennant pulling smoothly away from the line and driving cautiously as she learned the characteristics of the new car. Alex Kay took over for the second stint and really began to push the car harder and harder as his turn progressed. Jane Marie Osborne began the final stint of the race well and drove confidently to finish in 24th place.

The Formula 24+ senior race saw Lizzie Docherty competing in a field of 18 cars. Lizzie drove fantastically and her lap times were consistent and fast! After an hour of hard racing with only one minor misadventure into a gravel trap, Lizzie finished in a personal best of 7th, beating teams of apprentices from Jaguar Landrover, Perkins Engines, MIRA  and Renishaw Engineering.

Onto Race 2 and the year 10 boys. Following the F24+ race, a front tyre had to be hastily changed. This delay meant that Adam Lunn started further down the grid than in race one. From the outset Adam drove like a demon weaving his way past car after car and working his way to 1st place and on to build up a lead of 3 and a half minutes over 2nd place. The fastest pitstop of any team on the day saw our second driver Michael Brandon exit the pits still in front of 2nd place and continue to grow our lead to an incredible 7 and a half minutes over 2nd place. Our final driver George Hammond maintained our lead and drove brilliantly on fading batteries to nurse the car home an incredible 2.8 miles ahead of 2nd place.....what a result!!

The lads not only won, but also set the distance record and the lap record for the track.

The Dream Team with their medals and trophy

The year 11 team drove well but sadly suffered a rear tyre blowout in the second race, which took 18 minutes to fix. Despite this, Jane Marie nursed the car home to 19th place, a considerable improvement on race one.

So onto next weekend and Dunsfold Park (Top Gear track) and the final heat before the International Final.......