Bradford College Hosts Thrilling Greenpower Kit-Car Race Day

Bradford College hosted its second annual Greenpower Race Day, with Tockwith racetrack selected as the host venue this year.

Run in partnership with the Greenpower Education Trust and main sponsors CBRE, the day brought together eight secondary schools from across the Bradford district to race electric cars that the students had designed, built, and tested themselves.

Greenpower Education Trust is a UK-based charity that helps to unlock potential and spark enthusiasm for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) through the excitement of motorsport.

For the past two years, Bradford College has worked with Greenpower to set a unique challenge for secondary schools across the region: to design, build and race an electric car.

This year’s competing schools included reigning champions BBG Academy, alongside returning teams from Hanson School, Oastlers School, Tong Leadership Academy, and Beckfoot Hazelbeck.

New challengers for 2025 included One in a Million Free School, Bradford AP Academy, and BBEC (Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College), each taking to the track for their first Greenpower experience. 

Adding extra excitement to the day, the event also debuted its first-ever Goblin Race, allowing primary school students to get involved too. Swain House Primary School partnered with Hanson School to build their very own Goblin cars, bringing younger students into the world of engineering and sustainability.

Anita Ladva-Cheung, Head of Student Recruitment at Bradford College, said: 

“This challenge isn’t just about racing—it’s about collaboration, innovation, and inspiring the next generation of STEM talent in Bradford. We’re incredibly proud to see so many students here, putting months of hard work into action on the track.” 

The event saw fast-paced heats, creative engineering fixes, and enthusiastic cheering from students, staff, and families. At the end of the event, BBG Academy was crowned this year’s champions once again, taking 1^st and 2^nd places after a day of thrilling competition. Hanson School came in 3^rd place with their Green Viper car.  

Jack Laycock, BBG Academy teacher, said, 

“We joined the Greenpower project as part of our applied resilience curriculum. We are grateful to Bradford College for offering this opportunity and supporting us with the building of the car.

“We were keen to return after being champions last year and come back with two cars even stronger, and we’re ecstatic to claim both 1^st and 2^nd place this year! It is a worthwhile competition to take part in, and the students love it!” 

Cain Broklehurst from Hanson Delta Academy said, 

“I have loved Greenpower and really enjoyed the initial building of the car and designing it, then coming to the race day afterwards has been the main dream -seeing our car against other people’s work and determining who will have the better skills.”  

Jay McQuitty of CBRE added,

“CBRE and Bradford College have a long-standing relationship spanning over 10 years, and we are passionate about education, so it was a great privilege to sponsor the race day event.

“It was great to see the passion and teamwork from all the participants and be a part of the day. This was a fantastic day had by all, and I would encourage other companies to get involved in sponsoring this event.”