| On Sunday 5 October the Ford Greenpower 2003 Electric Car National Final was held
at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, just three miles from Chichester. This 'Formula 24' marathon six-hour
race is an annual event for secondary school pupils from England and Wales, and attracted large crowds of spectators from all over Britain. The first race took place at Goodwood on 15 October 1999 when twenty-one cars entered. Now, five years later, sixty-eight cars, qualifying from an entry of over one hundred and eighty vehicles, took part.
All the entrants are secondary schools, involving over one thousand pupils in all, who have designed
and built their own cars using identical free-issue 24-volt motors and 12-volt batteries supplied
by Greenpower. The cars are made from a variety of materials from wood to aluminium. The race is
to see which team can complete the most laps in six hours. All teams consist of six drivers and six
pit-crew.
The winners were the favourites, last year's champions, 'The Boys R Back', St Philip Howard Catholic
High School, Barnham, whose girls in 'Greyhound' scooped the top girls team trophy and were third
overall. Second was 'The Wealdos', The Weald School, Billingshurst. |
