Rockingham International Finals
Greenpower International Finals Weekend October 2016
I would first like to start by saying that I am sorry about how late this is. The following is the summary of what happened at the Rockingham international finals in October 2016. I could come up with a bunch of excuses about how I was busy with exams and coursework, but the truth is that I needed to make sure what I wrote about this would be perfect. This is the single most stressful, brilliant and emotional weekend of my Greenpower career and I needed to capture it. So onwards with the blog…
15th October 2016
An early start left us all stood in the car park of school half asleep and grasping cups of coffee as if our lives depended on it. But despite us all being zombies, a sense of excitement lingered in the air. Cars loaded into the trailer, batteries in the cars and the team strapped in, we set off for Rockingham. By the time we arrived everyone was a little more awake and set up began. A mad dash to the Greenpower t-shirt stand between drivers briefing and practice and then we were underway. Practice went smoothly with Dylan pulling a fastest lap of 2:31.9. Then after a lunch break and some much needed team discussion, we entered the F24+ lap race. Unfortunately we didn’t do that well, only managing 8th place with Dylan and 11th with Dougal. Exhausted by the practice that followed, we went out for a team meal and then retired to our hotel. As much as a good night’s sleep would have been the best, most of the team were up discussing strategy, preparing for the day ahead.
16th October 2016.
Day two had the captains waking us up at 7am. This wasn’t exactly met with joyous smiles. However we carried on and were at the racetrack and set up for free practice by 9am. Practice contained a lot of job switching especially pit crew to find the right combination for the race. But by the end of practice we were confident in our decisions. Race 1 didn’t exactly go to plan as with Dylan coming in 7th and Dougal 8th. Spirits down slightly we carried onto the F24+ race. That race was tough with rain and dampened spirits even more when Dylan only came in 9th and Dougal even worse in 18th. Heading into the 2nd F24 race some of the team were about ready to call it a day, cold, tired and frustrated at what looked like another disappointing end to a promising season. However, we headed into the race with our heads held high. Finishing the race in first position the team were ecstatic, but it seemed bittersweet as it looked as if we still hadn’t done enough to win the championship. Standing around the podium, the team stared at the ground, waiting for the word second. And then they said it… we were champions. The team erupted into screams, jumping up and down, and then the crying started, tears of joy of course. What seemed like an eternity of waiting was finally over. We were international champions. We listened as the captains went on about how proud they were of us and how hard we had all worked for this, a strong sense of pride in the air.
The way home was filled with the retelling of the day’s events and as an exhausted team arrived back at school, with one thought. We had worked so hard for that title, we are sure going to hold onto it.
Bring on 2017.