+44 (0) 1454 318000
News

Powersystems proud sponsor of green racing engineers of the future

June 24, 2019

Recently the Rotary Racer Greenpower Team, based at Chipping Sodbury School, welcomed representatives from Powersystems, their latest sponsor.

What began as an initiative at Chipping Sodbury School to get ‘lads and dads working together now involves the whole family working to build electric powered cars to race.

Made and raced by girls and boys, Rotary Racer is a car built by the Greenpower club at Chipping Sodbuy School.

Rotary Racer are one of four Greenpower teams from Chipping Sodbury School taking part in the Greenpower electric racing series.

The team comprises of 10 students from years 7-13 (aged 11-18), along with parents/carers, and support from the school’s Design & Technology department.

The Greenpower Education Trust is a UK based charity which helps to encourage children into engineering by enthusing them to use Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) through the power of motorsport.

This gives students the opportunity to design, build and race their own battery power racing cars at various circuits around the country including Silverstone, Goodwood and Castle Combe.

Greenpower will be celebrating its 20th anniversary throughout 2019. It has come a very long way from a single race held at Goodwood in 1999, to an international scheme with teams from 5 different continents, and licences operating across the globe. Races have been held at many different locations across the country, including the prestigious Silverstone.

Hoping to encourage more children to consider a career in STEM, Powersystems is now supporting Chipping Sodbury School through sponsorship.

Chris Jenkins, Managing Director of Powersystems said, ‘We are delighted to support green engineers of the future. The prospects of UK Engineering is a topic that we care about deeply.

Attracting new talent into the sector is critical and we are delighted to support these engineers. As a business, Powersystems has seen a renewed focus and energy for engineering apprenticeships over the last couple of years and we are committed to supporting the continuation of this, inspiring young people from an early age.

Engineering is a very flexible field and it can be applied in many ways. All the different fields you can work in will probably surprise you!’

The Rotary Racer – The RR9 and RRX

Greenpower cars race in 1.5 hour sprint-style races on full size racing circuits and generally average a speed of around 30mph. They achieve equivalent MPG values of greater than 3000 MPG. The aim of Greenpower is to promote engineering & technology as exciting careers to those aged 9-25. The concept is for teams to design, build, develop and race highly efficient “green” electric racing cars.

The car is powered by two 12v batteries, and reaches speeds of approx. 30mph.

The team competes in two race categories F24 and F24+. F24 races last for 90 mins and have two driver changes, with this event happening twice per race day.

F24+ for 16 years plus race for 60 mins with one driver and different gearing to enable higher speeds.

The Rotary Racer team finished 5th in the F24 2018 International Final held at Rockingham in October and over the winter months the team have continued working on building a new car to race in the 2019 season.

The new car competed at its first race at Goodwood on the 12th May 2019. The car is completely funded by fundraising and donations to cover the costs of parts, race entries and ongoing development.

The Season So Far…

The 2019 season started in the rain, with the Goodwood Test Event. 44 cars made their way around the Goodwood Motor Circuit, with FireBird from Team Bird GP taking 1st place by only 20 seconds. Watch this space for further updates

Dates for your diary – You are welcome to come along and support, bring the family and make a day of it!

  • 22 June Saturday – Castle Combe Summer Action Festival
  • 23rd of June Sunday – Castle Combe Green Power Racing Event
  • F24 Race 1 is at 11:45 and runs to 13:15 – both RR9 and RRX will be on track
  • F24+ is at 14:00 till 15:00 – only RR9 will be racing in this section
  • F24 Race 2 is at 15:30 till 17:00 – again, both RR9 and RRX wil be racing
  • (Time can change slightly depending on the running of the day)
  • Rotary Racer have a big white gazebo on the hill of Camp Corner which is the last corner before the start/finish straight
  • Powersystems have given 10 goodie bags for the ‘Kids into Motorsport Stand’.

30 June Sunday  – Goodwood Heat

  • Also to be held at the iconic Goodwood Motor Circuit is our annual Goodwood Heat on Sunday 30th
  • Normally a swelteringly hot day, full of exciting racing, and a chance for the students to show off all of their hard work that they have put into building and perfecting their cars.

17 October  – Silverstone

  • The 2019 Greenpower International Finals will be held exactly 20 years on from when it all started on the 17thOctober 1999.
  • With only the top teams being accepted into this event, expect very fast racing from both F24 and F24+ teams. To add to the excitement, this milestone event will be held at the spiritual home of British motorsport, Silverstone.

More information about any of our upcoming events can be found

You can follow the team

For more information about Powersystems UK please visit the website www.powersystemsuk.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

Contact Information:

Powersystems are powering the transition to a carbon free future

As a high voltage specialist electrical engineering company with over 45 years (1977-2022) experience Powersystems have grown by reputation to become a trusted force in the design, installation and commissioning of electrical infrastructure across the UK.

Celebrating 25 years as the first Lloyds National Electricity Registration Scheme ‘s accredited Independent Connection Provider (ICP), Powersystems are capable of delivering contestable grid connections at voltages up to 132 kV.

Since 2000, Powersystems have connected over 6 Gigawatts of renewable energy generation to the UK electricity grid, along with decarbonisation technology which includes; wind energy projects, solar, anaerobic digestion, hydroelectric, electrical vehicle infrastructure, short term operating reserve STOR, combined heat and power (CHP), Grid stability projects like rotating stabilisers,  and battery energy storage systems (BESS) as well as commercial industrial private wire networks.

Working with partners, delivering sustainable power solutions, proudly the Powersystems high voltage specialist team have connected 27% of all U.K. onshore wind farm

At the core of the operation is a commitment to the highest values of health and safety, welfare, quality and the environment. Powersystems Integrated management systems are ISO accredited and their approach under their health and safety ‘Priority No.1’ brand is to aim for the best industry practice in all.

Powersystems UK Ltd. is an Employee-Owned Business and as such has a keen interest in the well-being of all its employees. They encourage and empower you to be imaginative, share great ideas and be involved in the success of the business.

Speak to Powersystems today

You can contact us as follows

Call Us 01454 318000  Email Us enquiries@powersystemsuk.com