Our Third Form Design Technology Engineering (DTE) pupils had a speedy finish to their latest projects as they competed to win the first-ever F1 in Kimbolton Competition on Saturday morning.

Pupils arrived at the Roger Peel Sports Centre to find the test track, kindly donated by the Kimbolton School Parents' Association (KSPA), stretching the length of the Gym. Our two Lower Sixth F1 in Schools Competition teams, Nova Racing and Ventus Motorsports, were on hand to provide advice and information about the national competition, and to provide support to those competing in our local event.

The F1 in Schools Competition is the largest and most successful school based STEM programme in the world. The challenge inspires students to use IT to learn about physics, aerodynamics, design, manufacture, branding, graphics, and sponsorship, and then work as a team to apply them in a competitive and exciting way.

We have entered this competition for the last two years and have had a great deal of success, winning the East Anglian regional final on each occasion. This means that we have taken a team to the National Final twice and have secured either first or second place in the Development Class each time. Our success has led the DTE department to start an internal competition for its Third Form pupils, which involves them designing and building cars over the course of a term, and then racing them on the track. They competed for a number of prizes including the fastest car, quickest reaction time and best car design.

Mr Nick Ellis, our F1 in Schools Coordinator said, "Thanks to the generosity of the KSPA, we are one of the few schools in the country to have our own official F1 in Schools race track, and this allows our younger pupils to experience the excitement of their own event, racing cars that they have designed and made."

For more images from the day, see our photo gallery.

Good luck to Nova Racing and Ventus Motorsports on Friday at this year's regional final of F1 in Schools!