Odiham school team crowned Formula 1 Education Challenge Champions at the fastest and largest UK Finals

Britannia Red, a team of 13 to 15 year old students from Robert May’s School, Odiham, Hampshire, have won a place at the F1 in Schools World Finals 2019 after taking victory at the UK Finals held this week at Airbus’ West Factory in Broughton, Flintshire.  
 
Representing England at the World Finals will be Evolve, a team of three 16 and 17 year old boys from Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Faversham, Kent, who took the runners-up spot. Centurion Racing from Rishworth School, Halifax, a team of four 16 to 18 year olds, who were third also secured a place at this year’s World Finals. 
 
During the competition a local team of six 13 and 14 year old Welsh students from Connah’s Quay High School, Flintshire, had the fastest car on track, smashing the UK record with a time of 1.041 seconds, four-hundredths of a second quicker than the previous record held by a Coventry team. 
 
The highest placed Scottish and Welsh teams, Overdrive from Aberdeen Grammar School and Quantum from Denbigh High School have also won through to the World Finals to represent their countries at the event later this year.
 
Britannia Red, with team members Abi Bessant, 14, Tilly Wake, 13, Harriet Quarmby, 13, Caoimhe Thomas 14, Callum Green, 14 and Ted Hodgson, 15, won the Best Engineered Car Award as well as taking the National Champions title. Abi said of winning, “We really didn’t expect to win today, we didn’t think we’d get anywhere, so it was totally unexpected, especially as it was the first year for us. There’s lots of judging sessions and so there’s lots of pressure, but we were surprisingly calm. It’s a mix of fun and hard work doing the challenge, you have to dedicate a lot of time to it, but it’s great fun. It opens our eyes to the scope of Engineering too, especially coming to a place like Airbus, which has been a great experience.”
 
F1 in Schools is a hugely popular competition, engaging and inspiring students about Engineering by practical application of STEM skills to create their own Formula 1 team and a scale-model car, from scratch. The students assess their performance against other schools at a series of regional finals around the country. The best 4 teams at each regional final compete at the UK National Finals. 
 
The UK Champions win a trip to the headquarters of an F1 team and the podium placed teams win a trip to the FORMULA 1 ROLEX BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2019 weekend at Silverstone with grandstand tickets courtesy of Silverstone Circuit and F1 paddock access from Formula 1, two £5000 bursary scholarships from UCL Engineering and Denford Ltd F1 in Schools equipment to the value of £5000 for Britannia Red’s school as well as the new impressive F1 in Schools UK Champions trophy.  
 
The F1 in Schools UK Finals also featured Development Class teams, with Infinity Racing, a team of 12-13 year old boys and girls from St John’s College, Cardiff claiming the winners trophy and a place at the World Finals 2019 along with Avidity Racing from Scarborough UTC who were the runners up. A team from St. Joseph’s College, Reading, named Illusion were awarded third place. 
 
Andrew Denford, Founder and Chairman, F1 in Schools, said after the event, “I’m blown away  - we’ve seen the UK record beaten by nine teams, a tight race on and off the track for podium places with talented UK Champions crowned today at our biggest UK event with over 250 students, held at one of the largest manufacturing facilities in the world building the wing for the largest commercial aircraft in the world. 
 
“Airbus has been an amazing venue to house the UK Finals of the largest global STEM challenge and we’ve had outstanding hospitality and support from them, with a team of Airbus graduates and apprentices capably hosting our students and inspiring them with their experience of working in the Engineering industry.”
 
“Today we’ve seen an unbelievably high level of work from the F1 in Schools students, with skills that go far beyond the classroom and have enormous value, not only within their school education but in a broader context with increased confidence and life skills that will be invaluable to them in the future. My congratulations go to all our teams and I know they are destined to have very successful careers.” 

 
Full list of Award Winners: 

PROFESSIONAL CLASS
 
National Champions
Britannia Red
Robert May's School
Odiham

2nd Place 
Evolve
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School
Faversham

3rd Place 
Centurion Racing
Rishworth School
Halifax

Scotland Champions
Overdrive
Aberdeen Grammar School
Aberdeen

Wales Champions
Quantum
Denbigh High School
Denbigh

Best Engineered Car
Britannia Red
Robert May's School
Odiham

Fastest Car Award 
XLR8
Connah's Quay High School
Connah's Quay

Research & Development 
Protoanic
Calday Grange Grammar School
West Kirby

Sponsorship & Marketing
Novo
Royal Grammar School
Newcastle Upon Tyne

Verbal Presentation
Sheff1 Racing
Bradfield Secondary School
Bradfield

Pit Display 
Morson-Blackout
Sprowston Community Adacemy
Norwich

Portfolio
Imperium
Whitley Bay High School
Whitley Bay

DEVELOPMENT CLASS
 
National Champions 
INFINITY RACING
St John's College
Cardiff

2nd Place 
Avidity Racing
Scarborough UTC
Scarborough

3rd Place 
Illusion
St Joseph's College
Reading

Best Engineered Car 
Avidity Racing
Scarborough UTC
Scarborough

Fastest Car Award
Speed of Light
Harlow College
Harlow

Research & Development
INFINITY RACING
St John's College
Cardiff

Sponsorship & Marketing 
Igneous Racing
Royal Grammar School
Newcastle Upon Tyne

Verbal Presentation
Ouragan Platine
The Nelson Thomlinson School
Wigton

Pit Display 
Tîm Apex Alpha Bro Edern
Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern
Cardiff

Portfolio 
Illusion
St Joseph's College
Reading

Social Media
Blue Rockets Racing
The Castle School
Thornbury

FIA Women in Motorsport
Illusion
St Joseph's College
Reading

Team Identity
Aspire6
Leasowes High School
Halesowen

---