The National Final
THE 2009/2010 NATIONAL FINAL - 24th JUNE 2010
A report of the day's events by Brian Richardson, National Organiser.
"That was absolutely mindblowing!"....."It's the coolest thing I've ever done!"....."Many, many thanks for all that you do - it's great!"
"This is the best thing we do in school"....."I'm so excited just to be here!"....."I shall remember this for the rest of my life!"
Just some of the dozens of lovely comments we have received in our office already about this year's National Final and what a brilliant event it was! Hosted by our main sponsors, Jaguar Land Rover, at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, the Final saw teams from 33 schools, involving 92 students, battle it out to become Age Range and National Champions.
The day started very early for some of the teams but by 10 o'clock everyone had settled down to my welcoming address, which included a bit about how important it was to work together in teams and how much we wanted everyone to enjoy the day from start to finish.
Once the teachers had left the room, the brown envelopes were opened and the 'Queen's Park' track plans were revealed for the first time. Massive excitement followed during the next one and a half hours whilst the track was measured up, fuel loads were calculated and tyre selections made. During the morning, the best practice lap time dropped by over 7 seconds as the teams fine tuned their cars and the nearer midday got, the more intense it all became. Having said that, the calmness in the room was staggering and it never ceases to amaze me how the Finalists cope with the pressure - they are a credit to their teachers indeed! With ages ranging from Year 5 to Year 11/S4 it was an absolute joy to see everyone doing exactly the same work with just one thing in mind - to win the National Final Race! Midday soon came and it was time to stop work. Somewhere in the room the National Champions had already been decided but nobody knew who!
After a slap up buffet lunch and a quick look around the Museum, we all came back into the auditorium to watch the afternoon events. What a moment it was when I asked Thomas from Ellacombe Primary to come to the front. The poor chap looked terrified as he walked up! We had spotted that it was his 11th birthday so we gave him a special present to remember the day by - a Lewis Hamilton cap and a Jenson Button book. Oh, and just to make it even better, all 200 guests sang 'Happy Birthday' to him and he turned Ferrari red!
That certainly released some tension because the start time for the Teacher's Race was getting ever nearer - 39 laps around the Spa Francorchamps circuit with a tricky weather forecast - and the excitement was building up! However, before that there was a short talk about CREST Awards given by Samantha Murphy from the British Science Association and this, as well as being really interesting, just added to the tension! Samantha told everyone how they could be registered for the CREST Bronze Award scheme and how it could be awarded to them at the end of a 'Cars' project. She encouraged everyone to explore the possibilities and to get involved.
When Samantha sat down, I quickly looked around the room. There were plenty of sweaty and worried brows and teachers were visibly fidgeting so we started the Teacher's Race without delay! When the red lights went out the cheering and noise levels hit the roof! The standard of cars could be said to be 'reasonable' and the lead changed several times in the early stages. Chris Moran from Farlingaye seemed to spend more time in the pits than on the track and several others performed manoeuvres more in line with Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean than Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton but after some canny driving (and a great deal of luck!) Kevin O'Donnell from St. Joseph's R.C. Primary School, Stockton-on-Tees, won by just 2 seconds, to screams of delight from his pupils! Geoff Earl, Northfield School and Sports College, Stockton-on-Tees, came second and John Wright from Queen Elizabeth's Community College, Devon came third. They each won a trophy, a bottle of champagne, a certificate and some genuine Spa Francorchamps circuit memorabilia.
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Champion Teacher Kevin O'Donnell being presented with his trophy and prizes by Wendy Richardson. |
Runner Up Geoff Earl |
3rd Place John Wright |
Well done to all of the teachers who took part and for making this event such fun for everyone to watch.
I then gave a short speech and thanked the sponsors for all they do to help us. I tried to give some background information about what goes on behind the scenes during the Challenge year but eventually, the excitement soon got too much for me and I announced that the National Final was about to start! Screams, shrieks and shouts went up - the moment had arrived!
The red lights were on and hearts were pounding....who would win?....we were minutes away from finding out!
At the end of the first lap Queen Elizabeth's Community College Age Range 2 car was in the lead and it stayed that way for 16 of the 57 lap race. There was plenty going on behind them with cars swerving all over the track in an attempt to stop others overtaking. Engines were overheating and tyres screeching but everyone managed to stay on the track. At one point, Tudhoe, Tunbridge Wells and Pendeford completed six overtaking manoeuvres in just over one lap! In these early stages however, Hinchingbrooke, Tollbar and St. Augustines were all less that 2 seconds behind the leaders so anything could happen, and it did! During laps 16 to 30 the lead changed seven times with Hinchingbrooke and Marlborough fighting it out between them and then...calamity! Hinchingbrooke broke down. The noise in the auditorium was now deafening and people were out of their chairs with excitement, especially when Bankfoot Primary took the lead on lap 41. It seemed that several of their team members were on the point of bursting!
However, Bay House Age Range 3 Team took the lead two laps later and stayed in front until the chequered flag and became our 2009/10 Overall National Champions! What an amazing race it had been and the 'old hands' were saying it was probably the best ever! In second place was Bankfoot Primary (an amazing achievement) and third place was taken by Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys. It took more than a few minutes for everyone to catch their breath and work out who had come 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each Age Range and then everyone was brought to the front to be presented with a trophy and a Jaguar 'goody bag' that contained some brilliant keepsakes.
The first 3 teams in each section were then presented with their prizes and trophies, by Mr. Les Ratcliffe from Jaguar Land Rover, to tumultuous applause.
The day was done and the long trek home began. Happy faces, hundreds of tales to tell and a brilliant day was had by all. Everyone was a winner - not bad for a whole day of Maths! Well done to you all and thanks for helping to make the day so memorable - I had a great time and hope to see you again next year!
For the sake of clarity, we have broken the race results down into the three Age Ranges, so this is how everyone finished...
AGE RANGE 1
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
SCHOOL |
AUTHORITY |
|
| 1st | Bankfoot Primary | Bradford |
| 2nd | St. Peter & St. Paul's CEP | Lincolnshire |
| 3rd | Bawdsey CEVCP | Suffolk |
| 4th | St. Joseph's RCP | Stockton-on-Tees |
| 5th | Woodside Junior | Buckinghamshire |
| 6th | Alumwell Junior | Walsall |
| 7th | Ellacombe Primary | Torbay |
| 8th | Charlton Kings Junior | Gloucestershire |
| 9th | Hayward's Primary | Devon |
| 10th | St. Luke's CEP | Sefton |
| 11th | Wembury Primary | Plymouth |
| 12th | St. Stephen & All Martyrs' | Bolton |
AGE RANGE 2
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
SCHOOL |
AUTHORITY |
|
| 1st | Ashton Middle | Bedfordshire |
| 2nd | Bay House | Hampshire |
| 3rd | Langley Park Boys | LB of Bromley |
| 4th | St. Augustine's RC High | Lancashire |
| 5th | Tudhoe Grange | Durham |
| 6th | Prestwick Academy | S. Ayrshire |
| 7th | Philips High | Bury |
| 8th | Beverley Grammar | East Riding of Yorks |
| 9th | Northfield | Stockton-on-Tees |
| 10th | Hinchingbrooke | Cambridgeshire |
| 11th | The Holy Trinity CE | West Sussex |
| 12th | Queen Elizabeth's Community | Devon |
AGE RANGE 3
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
SCHOOL |
AUTHORITY |
|
| 1st | Bay House | Hampshire |
| 2nd | Tunbridge Wells Grammar | Kent |
| 3rd | The Marlborough | Oxfordshire |
| 4th | Farlingaye High | Suffolk |
| 5th | Tollbar BEC | N.E. Lincolnshire |
| 6th | Harlaw Academy | Aberdeen City |
| 7th | Queen Elizabeth's Community | Devon |
| 8th | The Cotswold | Gloucestershire |
| 9th | Gt. Baddow High | Essex |
| 10th | Pendeford BEC | Wolverhampton |
| 11th | John Summers High | Flintshire |
| 12th | Heckmondwike Grammar | Kirklees |