Wiggy’s World

Mr Kirk how come we were never involved in anything like this at Jo Whit

Rainworth-based, Joseph Whitaker School, is set to take pole position on the grid when it competes against over 40 East Midlands Schools at the national Formula Schools competition on Silverstone race track tomorrow (Thursday).

The pre-judging event, held recently at Quarrydale School, Sutton, saw 14 schools compete to gain marks towards the Silverstone race day.

Marks were awarded against a number of categories including the engineering of their scale model race car and how well the pupils had worked together as a team.

Joseph Whitaker School scored 77 per cent placing them in the top two schools in the region.

Paul Gray, technology teacher and head of the project at Joseph Whitaker School said: “The marks gained were a huge improvement on last year and considering the pupils were much younger than the previous year, with an average age of 14, we were delighted with the mark gained.

“I think part of the extra effort put in by the pupils was down to their involvement with MEIRG, they invited us to attend the Autosports Show with them this year and it allowed the pupils access to top engineers and motorsport professionals who advised them on the latest composite materials as well as how and where to source parts for their race car.

“In fact, many of the top names in remote control racing have been involved with the team since the Show.”

At Silverstone all the pupils take part in two qualifying heats and if they get through, two final events.

The points gained at race day, combined with the points awarded at the pre-qualifying event go on to decide the overall winning school.

Chris Wilson, from MEIRG who sponsored Joseph Whitaker School, added; “It’s a delight to see the children take the event so seriously and act so professionally.

“They had to write and deliver a presentation on how they designed their car, right through to how they got the sponsorship.

“They did well to impress the judges. We wish them luck at Silverstone and look forward to seeing them perform on the day.”

MEIRG is a project which aims to retrain, retain and redeploy the East Midlands engineering workforce as well as encourage young people into the sector.

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