Ballyclare students excel in racing final

The eight pupils from Ballyclare Secondary school placed 27th overall in the Greenpower International Final.

The group made it to the final after they were crowned All Ireland Champions for the second year in succession in June 2018.

The International Final was held at Rockingham Speedway race circuit in England on October 5 and 6.

To qualify the pupils had to design, make and race a single seater electric kitcar.

The aim of the competition is for all teams to use the same batteries and motor type, however the team also had to consider other factors such as aerodynamics/gear ratios/wheel size, in order to travel as far as possible in a ninety minute race, with data collected measuring both speed and distance.

A total of 258 kitcars were built in the UK alone and over 500 worldwide.

During the Northern Ireland qualifying heats held at Kirkistown Racetrack, the Ballyclare Secondary School car, named Forget Fossil, completed 32.8 miles within the allotted time.

This set a new course record at Kirkistown and also placed them within the top 80 in the world, giving them automatic entry into the International Final.

During the two day competition held at Rockingham the team took part in three races.

Congratulating the team on finishing in 27th place, a spokesperson for the Doagh Road school said: “This is an excellent achievement for all the pupils taking part as this is only the fourth year of Ballyclare Secondary taking part. Ballyclare Secondary would like to thank all their local sponsors who helped them during the year.”