Author: The Greenpower Team
24 September 2020
Greenpower Education Trust is pleased to announce the expansion of its plans for 2020, with the test track of world-automotive manufacturers Lotus Cars test track, Hethel, set to host the charity’s third event in 2020 on 21 November.
The Norfolk track joins previously announced events for F24 and F24+ teams at Castle Combe (13 September) and Goodwood Motor Circuit (11 October). All events will be held under new measures, in line with the latest guidance from the UK Government and Motorsport UK, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Greenpower’s team and participants.
Matt Windle, Executive Director – Engineering for Lotus said, “We hosted the Greenpower race at Hethel for the first time last year and it was not only great fun, but it was a superb demonstration of the talent and creativity of the young engineers and designers, many of whom came up with innovative ways to build and race these electric cars. It is important to Lotus that we help to nurture this creativity for the future and where better to do it than on the famous Lotus test track where all our cars are developed, including the world’s most powerful, and exciting, production hyper car, the Lotus Evija.”
Ramping up for 2021
The addition of the Hethel event at the end of the year provides the charity with a momentum it can carry forward into 2021, when it hopes to host a full programme of events for all its categories: Goblins (ages 9-11), F24 (ages 11-16) and F24+ (ages 16-25).
After a lengthy break, Greenpower hopes to support the return of more young people to the design/build/race challenge. The hands-on experience has the opportunity to take on a new significance in the studies and education of young people, who may have spent much of lockdown in a virtual learning environment with little opportunity to apply skills and critical thinking practically, as well as working with their peers.
CEO Paul van Veggel said: “When restrictions began to ease and the possibility of Greenpower being able to hold a handful of events became viable, we immediately set to work to find suitable locations that would enable us to hold an event while implementing our COVID-19 measures. We were keen to return to Hethel, which hosted a truly memorable event for us and our participants last year. We are grateful to Lotus Cars for their collaboration to find a way to go racing for a third time this year. It will be the latest Greenpower event we have ever held in a season, and we are likely to experience conditions we have never seen before. However our teams are incredibly resilient, and have battled all the different elements in the past – sometimes several in the space of one day! We have missed being able to see our Greenpower community for such a long time, but we look forward to our run of events that we hope will lead us in to a strong year in 2021.”
Fontwell, UK The Greenpower Team
