Greenpower at Goodwood
Report by David Harbey
20 May 2021
Twitter gets mixed reviews in some quarters, but on this occasion it was the inspiration for two recent events that I attended with the Greenpower Education Trust.
I was somewhat frustrated at the late decision by our Lords and Masters to stop us standing on deserted and breezy spectator banks on former airfields while trying to get the perfect motorsport action photo.
Therefore I decided it was time to give something back – so I emailed the Greenpower Education Trust and offered to be a volunteer for the day.
In the event, this meant acting as a track marshal at a breezy, but sunny, former airfield known these days as the Bedford Autodrome.
Let’s back up a bit. Who are Greenpower and what do they do ? They are a UK charity and their declared objects are “to advance education in the subjects of sustainable engineering and technology to young people” with support from Ford, Siemens and IET.
To put it another way – “We inspire young people around the world to excel in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) through a unique challenge: to design, build and race an electric car.” Now, who wouldn’t have loved to do that at school …
Covering ages 9 to 25, Greenpower events happen in the UK, USA, Poland and China with International Finals due to be held at Goodwood in October this year.
Among the patrons are the Duke of Gordon & Richmond (formerly known as Lord March) and David Richards of Prodrive.
The vehicles are electrically powered (24 Volt DC) and have a clearly defined regulations, but as you will see a wide variety of vehicles emerge to compete !
Bedford was the first event of 2021 in the UK and, given the disruption of the last year or so, a commendable 21 teams were racing.
As volunteers, signing on was online as is the modern way. We were to act as track marshals during the morning practice sessions and afternoon races.
Flags were simple – yellow to warn of an incident and red to stop racing on the command of the Clerk of the Course.
Social distancing and masks were the order of the day, as you would expect, with teams operating in bubbles in the paddock.
This was all well managed. TSL provide live timing and the team that completes the longest distance across the four races is the overall winner.
Having enjoyed my day at Bedford and, noting that the next event was at Goodwood, I approached Greenpower with a view to taking a few photos and writing an article for PistonClick.
Thus, an early start and a trouble-free drive saw me arrive at a place with which I am somewhat familiar.
Wearing my first media tabard since 1989 (the Audi Sport Rally, should you be interested), it allowed rather more freedom than my usual forays to Goodwood.
An initial walk round the paddock saw 39 teams housed in the spaces normally reserved for Cobras, Ferraris and Jaguars. Schools and colleges from across the country were in evidence along with a couple of teams from Siemens.
A positive feature is that 36% of the participants are female. There’s also room for some CAD – Cardboard Aided Design !
Vehicles were soon being pushed to the pitlane to start the morning practice session and some drivers got their first experience of the famous Goodwood track.
With the best lap times of 4 mins 15 secs at an average speed of around 34 mph, it doesn’t sound that quick. I have no doubt that it would have felt plenty fast enough if it was your first time behind the wheel !
Having enjoyed the unusual opportunity to shoot from the pit wall, I headed under the track to the outside and headed towards Madgwick.
Clearly, this would be different to watching and shooting the usual Goodwood Revival or Members Meeting fare but this was balanced by the opportunity to get a little closer to the action.
Another feature of the Greenpower series is that should a vehicle stop on circuit, a recovery trailer is despatched to collect and return it to the pits.
It’s a bit like the Nurburgring races where the recovery vehicles operate on the live track …
After the mid-morning break to allow teams to review how the first session had gone and to make any necessary tweaks, practice resumed.
I headed towards Woodcote to get a different angle on proceedings.
Soon enough it was time for the lunch break and a chance to sample the wares of the NAAFI Waggon in the paddock – a roast beef yorkshire pudding wrap no less – then back out for the start of the first of four 20-minute races.
Usually the grid is set in number order, but in these Covid times it is first come, first served. Thus, a trouble-free run with no issues to sort out should mean a better grid slot for the following race.
Three teams set the pace at the front all day – Apex #5, Firebird #701 and Bluebird#12 with what seemed to be very efficient aerodynamic designs.
Apex took the honours in race one.
The Apex team were again to the fore in race two.
In race 3, a very close contest ensued with the three teams covered by the proverbial blanket through the race and Firebird taking the win.
Firebird repeated their win in race four after another close contest.
Apex – Southleigh Racing - took the overall win from Firebird – Team Bird GP - reversing the result at Bedford.
Full results can be found on the TSL website.
The idea of introducing young people to STEM subjects in such an exciting way produces results – former participants are now employed in a range of companies including Jaguar Land Rover, Red Bull, EasyJet, Unilever, Prodrive, Renishaw and KMF.
You can play your part – Greenpower are always looking for volunteers and there are events all over the country during 2021. So, if you fancy doing your bit, get in touch with Greenpower and see how you can help !
More of my photos from Greenpower at Goodwood can be seen on my Flickr account.
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