Endgame – journey to national champions
We had worked hard to get this far, now was the time to show what we could do! After months of work the time was finally here, time to pack up all of our equipment and merchandise and make the journey to the South Wales F1 in Schools Regional Finals in Swansea. The work and commitment had been tough, working in three after-school clubs a week, and every lunch time and break time, but we were determined to produce the fastest 2D Formula 1 car that the UK had ever seen.
It would be the first time any of us had been in a competition like this, and as we arrived in Swansea we were very nervous and excited. Setting up our pit area we noticed how good some of the other teams looked, we had to compete against 25 other teams and we quickly realised that it was going to be a difficult event. Throughout the day we didn’t stop working as we spoke to four sets of judges and raced our car.
When we met the engineering judges we couldn’t wait to explain all of the science and engineering behind our car. One of the most difficult parts was our verbal presentation because we had to explain our whole project in a very short time, then we had to explain all of the STEM skills that we had used to the pit and portfolio judges – we had so much to tell them all! Our driver, Rio, was a little nervous before we had to race our car, but he did amazingly well, and had consistently the fastest reaction times of the day.
We waited for the results with all of the other teams, it was nerve wracking. We were thrilled to be awarded prizes for the fastest car, best engineered car, best pit and portfolio, best verbal presentation and overall regional champions! The best results our school had ever achieved and we had qualified to represent south Wales at the UK national finals!
We didn’t have long to get ready for the UK national finals. Despite having the fastest car in south Wales, we were not happy with how it performed on the day and knew that our car could go faster. After analysing the car, we identified some issues, carried out tests and worked to improve it.
The UK national final took place at the Jaguar factory near Stratford, it was an amazing location. There were teams from all over the UK competing. Our verbal presentation and speaking to the pit judges went very well. The engineering judges were great and had lots of questions about the work we had done and how we had made the different parts of our car.
Our car was 32nd out of 36 to race, and the nerves had been building all day. We were unsure if our car was good enough, because some fantastically fast times had already been achieved throughout the day – cars that were faster than our car had ever been.
Despite being very nervous, Rio, our driver, performed magnificently, again producing consistently the fastest reaction times. After all the hard work the time had finally come, to see if we had achieved our goal – to design and build the fastest 2D F1 in Schools car ever seen in the UK. As our race results came in, we were ecstatic! Our car was consistently fast, the fastest of the day, the fastest car ever seen! We had done it!
After completing all of the challenges of the day we then had to wait nervously for the results. It seemed to take forever for the presenter to announce the results. The first prize announced was for the fastest car, we were still smiling from the race results and were delighted to accept our prize. The prize for the best engineered car was announced next, and we had won it! We were so pleased to win this award because we had worked very hard to design and make all of the components of our car. We were also thrilled to receive the prize for the best verbal presentation.
It then came to the overall podium results, and we were on the edge of our seats. Third and second places were called and then team Endgame was announced as champions! We had done it! All the hard work and effort had paid off. Standing on the podium with our trophies and the confetti falling around us was amazing – we will always remember it.
Despite all the hard work, taking part in the F1 in Schools project was a fantastic experience, we learnt so much and developed so many skills – it is certainly one we will never forget. We would like to thank the companies that sponsored us and helped us to compete, EESW for its help and our teachers for making it possible.
Team Endgame – Rio Northey (team manager), Alex Lawrence (design engineer), Sam Pike (manufacturing engineer) and Lia Sims (graphic designer) – UK F1 in Schools Champions 2018.