On January 12th, our Regional winners, Firestorm, Red Dawn Racing and Team Xtreme travelled to Birmingham NEC to compete for two days at the F1 in Schools National Finals. The 5.30am start did not dampen their spirits as they prepared to compete against the best teams in the UK.

The competition days were packed full of presentations, scrutineering and racing, not to mention assembling a 2 x 1m pit display!

Each team received their schedule upon arrival and prepared for their areas of competition.

The standard was high and the nerves started to show as the teams realised just what they were competing for. Who would win a place at the World Finals?

Our own World finalists and second-place podium stars, Team Blackout, travelled with us as they were invited by F1iS to get involved in the running of the competition, taking charge of the teams, ensuring they got to their interviews on time and also running the cars up and down the track after racing. The cars weren’t as fast as the teams hoped, but all other elements seemed to go well. It was a very quiet bus back to the hotel on Thursday night, but each of the teams said they were thrilled to be back competing in person.

After a very early breakfast, all our teams were packed and ready for a return to the event to race, receive feedback and present their live pit interviews with host Tom Deacon.

Alongside this, F1iS had a little treat for us all. After lunch they had arranged for entry to the live arena event at the Autoshow. What a spectacular sight! Loud and adrenaline-fuelled, as cars and bikes roared past us at breakneck speeds! 

As the teams assembled for the final awards ceremony, the excitement mounted. Who would follow in the footsteps of Blackout and be part of the World finals? Nominations were in our favour with two for Red Dawn Racing and one for Xtreme. Unfortunately, no silverware this year in Dev class, as the competition was fierce, but the teams were outstanding and are now joining forces to compete at this year's Regionals in March. 

As the nominations for the Pro teams were announced, Firestorm realised that the opportunity to represent Wales at Worlds was becoming very real. The image of Firestorm's car was projected on the stage and the months of hard work confirmed that FIRESTORM are WELSH CHAMPIONS and are now travelling to Singapore in September to race against the World!