The Potters

Land Rover 4×4 In Schools UK National Finals

On March 28th The JCB Academy competed at the UK national finals of the Land Rover 4×4 in Schools competition at Silverstone.

One of the optional engineering activities at The JCB Academy is to compete in the Land Rover 4×4 in Schools challenge. A national competition where school teams of four work together to design and build a remote control (RC) car which is then tested over various obstacles. As part of the challenge the teams drive their RC cars over a series of specially designed test tracks, produce a portfolio of their work in the form of a ‘pit display’ and also present their work to a group of judges.

This year, two teams from The JCB Academy, The Potters and the Gear Heads entered their cars into the Land Rover 4×4 in Schools challenge and both reached the regional finals at Shirelands Collegiate Academy, Smethwick in January. The Gear Heads were presented with an award for exceptional team work, evident during the track trial, when they worked calmly together to deal with a technical problem which had developed on their car. However, the other academy team, the Potters, were successful in the competition and went onto the UK national finals at Silverstone on 28th March 2017.

25 schools competed at the UK national finals all looking for a place in the world finals in Dubai. After a gruelling six hrs of fierce competition, The Potters had great success, coming 3rd place in the overall competition and also runner-up in the Best Track Test. A truly, fantastic result from a very dedicated, hardworking and composed team.

Learning Support Mentor at The JCB Academy, Mr Rowe said: ‘Each member of the team has shown outstanding commitment, focus and hard work. They were well prepared and deserve this excellent achievement. I am proud of the way they represented The JCB Academy in such an exemplary way. Congratulations!’

The main photograph from left to right: Joe Coggins, Harry Goldstraw, Lucas Dunkley and Cain Hullah.