A GROUP of students from Sir James Smith's school have been working hard since October to design and build a Greenpower electric racecar, to race in the Greenpower Formula 24 race series, where teams from all around the country and abroad come together to race at some of the top circuits around the UK.

The team have just completed their first race at the prestigious Goodwood circuit in Chichester. Preparations for the race continued right up to the last minute when the team encountered an unexpected problem with the brake light.

The team worked furiously to get the car through scrutineering, which it did with a full sheet of ticks and a report of the brakes being the best of any racecar at the event.

Track action was swift with cars taking the excellent weather conditions as a chance to really test their vehicles for the up and coming race season.

Some cars found weaknesses and returned to the pits on the back of the recovery vehicle, needing further developments.

Thankfully for the Sir James Smith team, their car 'Retro Rocket' avoided such issues, being on the pace with the top cars of its class.

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the Post.