THE super-speedy Greenpower team from Sir James Smith’s Community School in Camelford have taken the title as International Champions after a superb weekend of kit car racing at the Rockingham Motor Speedway track in Corby.

The team, guided by the school’s subject leader for art, Ben Langton, powered their way to the Greenpower International Finals after battling in style against opposition in local and regional heats.

At Rockingham, over a weekend of racing, the team members triumphed over not only home-grown British kit car rivals, but also teams from around the world.

The team had been working on their car, the ‘Retro Rocket’, since January and returned to Cornwall with an array of trophies, medals and winners’ wreaths.

Not only was theirs the first kit car home in the finals on Saturday, they also then won the endurance race on the Sunday, totting up the most overall mileage.

Their aim was to travel as far as possible in one and a half hours, swapping drivers every half hour, and conserving enough battery energy to gain the most mileage at the best speed.

The jubilant team comprised current and past students from the school.

Celebrating at school on Monday were the current students: Toby Alford, William Hooper, Tom Davis, Dan Blackwell, Isla Symons, Harvey Symons, Alex Ferguson and Alex Quinn.

Past students, who left in July after completing their GCSEs, who have participated in ‘Retro Rocket’s’ great success included Peter Alford, George Hooper, Ross Curtis and Louis.

Mr Langton, who brought Greenpower to the school for the first time this year, praised the positive attitude of his team — who overtook their rivals on the last lap to win one of their trophies.

He also highlighted how beneficial the whole project was as it encompassed subjects such as mathematics, science, engineering and technology, giving the students a chance to gain a working knowledge of the subjects while building and driving the kit car.

He extended thanks to the sponsors of the team — Dairy Crest, Kernow Properties, ADP Diamex and Highfield Motors —and said that the team would now be set on building a new car for next year’s Greenpower races.

Mr Langton added: “We are trying to get our students to aspire, to aim to achieve things on an international stage, not just a local one. We set a goal to do our best in an international project, and we succeeded.”

Head teacher at Sir James Smith’s Community School Jon Lawrence said of the team’s achievement: “This shows just how talented our students are. Sir James Smiths’ is a small state comprehensive up against the might of very large schools, many of them private and some of them with superb engineering departments.

“This was when David beat Goliath!”