Queen Ethelburga’s Student Motorsport Team Takes Top Award for Team Professionalism
The QE Motorsport Team, a student-led extracurricular activity offered at North Yorkshire independent school Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate, is celebrating after winning the prestigious Team Professionalism award at the Student Motorsport Challenge Awards.
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The Student Motorsport Challenge is the world’s first cross-departmental motorsport programme, designed not only to drive racing talent but also to cultivate essential professional skills. The Challenge provides a platform for aspiring engineers, media strategists, business leaders, and environmental advocates, contributing to the evolving field of motorsport. The Team Professionalism Award is presented to the team that demonstrates a high degree of professionalism and operates as a well-structured organisation, which are key qualities for success in motorsport. |
“We are incredibly proud of this award and of the students who have worked so hard this season to develop their skills—not only mechanically, but collaboratively with each other and other teams. They truly deserved this recognition, and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the season!”
Team Principal, Helen Snuggs.
Leading School for Motorsport Opportunities
Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate is leading the way in offering unique and exciting extracurricular opportunities for its students. It is the first school ever to participate in the Student Motorsport Challenge, which until now had been exclusive to universities and colleges.
QE Motorsport comprises a group of enthusiastic students with a passion for being part of the wider motorsport world. The students built a race car from scratch in their own time and entered the Challenge as part of the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship, working with an experienced driver and under the guidance of a professional race mechanic.
Since Motorsport Engineering is not offered as part of the school curriculum, the team launched this extracurricular activity as a weekend programme, setting up workshops and employing a professional Race Engineer. Together, they worked to initially build the car and now continue to run it at motorsport events. Queen Ethelburga’s is the first school in the UK to undertake this initiative, aiming to give students a unique opportunity to enter the motorsport industry, which is typically an exceedingly difficult field to break into.
Two Years of Successful Racing
In the Championship's first year, QE Motorsport achieved 4th place overall in the Student Motorsport Challenge in 2023—a racing class within the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship. Competing against university and college teams, the students were thrilled to rank so highly and set new records for school involvement in the competition.
This year, running two cars and still the only school in the competition, the team placed 5th and 6th overall out of 14 teams, bringing home 12 trophies, including five from the first race at Snetterton. A standout moment came at Silverstone in September, where driver Haydn Payne achieved a spectacular double podium finish, taking 2nd and 3rd place. Starting from the back of a grid of 35 cars, Payne climbed an incredible 27 positions to finish 8th overall and 3rd in the Student Motorsport Challenge.
QE Motorsport also received the Team Development Award at the end of the season for demonstrating the best measurable growth and development as a team. Additionally, the team was a finalist in the Muddy Stilettos School Awards in the category of Best Experiential Learning.
Discover Queen Ethelburga’s exceptional extra-curricular activities by visiting the school during an Open Day or Private Tour. Contact Admissions today to book your visit and see the two Citreon C1 cars.
