SMCC Racing is the Official extra curricular club for all motor sport clubs at St Mary’s Catholic College, Wallasey, UK.
Formed in 2022, SMCC Racing’s focus was on the global STEM competition, F1 in Schools, developed by Denford and supported by Formula 1. Teams created by educational institutions across the world compete regionally to Design, Make and Race their minature F1 cars. Judges interview teams and score their participation and along with the speed of the car, the winning team gets invited to the National Finals. A similar format, but more scrutinised, finds teams competing from different regions for a coveted place at the World Finals.
World Finals are hosted at a different place each year and the winners of the world finals get a financial scholarship to one of the partner universities in their home countries. Students are given direct pathways into exciting careers, some even in F1.
Team Roles
The competition is more than just the car, it is about the students working as a team to satisfy the judging criteria.
Project or Team Manager, Design Engineer, Marketing Manager, Fundraising Manager, Graphic Designer, Logistics Manager, and any other role the students want to create, as long as they meet the judging criteria. These roles get evaluated at competition and students need to be able to defend their ability in that role.
SMCC Racing Team
Mr. Roberts
• Teacher DT/Engineering.
• F1 in Schools Faciliator.
Luna
• SMCC Racing Asst.
• Joined 2022.
Georgia
• SMCC Racing Journalist.
• Joined 2023.
Mr. Griffiths
• Head of DT.
• SMCC Racing Support Team.
• 3D Drawing Techniques.
Miss. Boisson
• Head of Year / English Teacher
• SMCC Racing Support Team.
• Proposals & Writing Techniques.
Mr. Reynolds
• Art Teacher.
• SMCC Racing Support Team.
• Rendering & Tonal Illustration.
Mr. Crawford
• Science Teacher.
• SMCC Racing Support Team.
• Drag Coeffiency & Areodynamics
2022
In it’s inaugural year, 32 students applied to join the program for a coveted 12 places. After verifying eligibility, 26 were invited to interview where applicants experienced a real-world style interview process, answering questions on what they can bring to their team, what roles they would be interested in and on their commitment to the program
Once the interviews were concluded, the applicant pool was so strong that 18 students were selected to create 3 teams.
Over the course of the season, through natural attrition, students opted to leave the program and this left 2 teams, Heatwave and Kachow.
After striking a partnership with Aston University to manufacture our cars, our teams were ready to compete at the Regional Finals at Bolton University.
The day was a huge learning curve for staff and students and the quality of other teams showed how inexperienced our teams were in the competition. But this didn’t stop Kachow from stealing the headlines with an impressive two trophies, for the Fastest Car and the coveted Judges Award. Even though neither team progressed onto the national finals, the students had a fantastic experience and even more motivation to succeed next season.
2023
This season began with team Heatwave withdrawing from the competition, stating the need to focus for their GCSE years and other extra curricular activities. However, we saw the inclusion of the next set of year 9 teams to accompany team Kachow.
The success of 2022 saw an increase in applicants for the 12 places. 45 students applied and 33 students were invited to interview. However, due to capacity in the program, only two teams were created and several students were placed on a standby list. Teams Carbon Fury and Phantom have joined for this season.
