IT’S A PLACE where some of the most famous drivers have raced their most famous cars, but last month it was a group of kids from BRAG’s successful F24 project which is geared to getting youngsters to think about engineering as a career, that graced Goodwood with their speed and style.

Goodwood, home of the world-famous annual Festival of Speed, was the prize for the BRAGin’ Fifers team, who built their own race car and qualified for the F24 finals.

Made up of a group of 11 to16 year olds, the team is Matthew Campbell (team manager), Liam Elston, Liam Lindsay, Cahan Campbell, Adam Blyth and Callum Blyth, and they are assisted by two older pitcrew members, Darren Mack and Liam Campbell.

Supported by BRAG Enterprises, based at the Crosshill Centre, the team managed to see off the competition in the Scottish heats to qualify for the prestigious final, securing their spot at Goodwood for the races on Sunday 12th October.

The team needed funding to make the trip, requiring a minibus, a trailer for the car and accommodation, and Kirsten Spence, youth and community development manager at BRAG, praised the community for rallying round to help. “The support we got locally was amazing,” she said. “It was all money from local businesses and community funds. Everybody played a part and it was quite overwhelming.” There were 80 teams from all over the world including the USA, South Africa, Portugal, Poland and Northern Ireland. Unlike the previous heats and races, where there had not been many teams or spectators, the Fifers got a taste of a real racing atmosphere with thousands of people cheering around the 2.4mile track at Goodwood. Just like in a Formula 1 race, the teams got a lap of honour as they took part in the parade around the track, with all the cars and teams on show.

The BRAGin’ Fifers started 76th on the grid but managed to fight their way through the field to finish 68th - a great achievement for a team that is still very new to the racing scene.

The second race was hampered by torrential rain, and was cut short due to cars spinning off the track, and the team’s final position was 71st out of the 80 cars. Nevertheless, for a team who didn’t believe the finals were even a possibility in their first year, they came away with a great sense of pride and achievement.

Matthew Campbell said, “The event was great and very well organised. Everybody was really excited and there was a lot more teams racing at Goodwood than there was at Alford and East Fortune. There was a bigger variety and types of cars and technology used within the cars.” Liam Elston added, “It was a good fun day and we really enjoyed racing on the Goodwood track. The car felt faster than the last time we had raced and performed better due to the track being bigger. We could manoeuvre the car more.

“The other teams were all very friendly. Overall it was a great day and the car performed well.” That wasn’t all for the youngsters, however, who were amazed to receive the IMechE International Finals 2014 Portfolio Award and were presented with a trophy by Jason Bradbury, from the Gadget Show.

In the modern racing world of technology and computers, race engineers are as crucial as the drivers and Cahan Campbell had the important task of communications on the day of the race. “I was monitoring the race results on the computer and feeding this back to the rest of the team,” he explained. “We were so proud to be racing at Goodwood as this is our first year of racing as a team and we hope to race there again next year.” Liam Lindsay said that the team had done “exceptionally well” in their first year of racing. “I am also very pleased with the results we have achieved and how well we have all worked together,” he added.

Kirsten is also proud of the team, and can’t wait to see where they go from here. “It’s been a fantastic start for this team to keep going forward - we’re absolutely elated,” she said. “The kids are really switched-on. They’ve all got their own kind of roles and they’ve settled into them really well.

“It’s a great opportunity for them. Red Bull picked up one of the other youngsters and gave them a year’s contract and the big car companies have graduate programmes so there’s lots of opportunities in the future for them.” The racing might be over for this year but the team aren’t planning on waving the chequered flag any time soon. Already looking forward to 2015, they have lots of new ideas and are keen to try out some new designs and technology. Backed by a £10,000 grant from Coalfields Regeneration Trust, the youngsters have all the tools - and the enthusiasm - to step up a gear and get into pole position for next season!