College Rally Team Take to the Tracks

A group of students from Preston’s College raced for the top spot in the Legend Fires North West Stages Rally with a car which they manage, service and maintain as part of their course.

Legend Fired North West Stages Rally is a two-day motorsport event in Blackpool, attracting hundreds of amateur rally crews to tackle the 75-mile course that spans several venues across the Fylde coast.

For the first time ever, a group of ten Level 2 students, aged 16-18, took part in the rally.

Their tutor, Mark Atkinson, and Programme Team Leader for Automotive Technologies at Preston’s College, Mark Knight, joined the students at the event, along with co-driver Gary Hughes to form the College crew.

Read more: Students compete in Young Enterprise Company Programme at UCLan

The team successfully brought the rally car home in 40th place out of 105 starters, and took the 4th overall spot in their class.

Automotive student, Mason Walker, 17, from Preston, said: “It was an awesome day!

“We had to battle with the wind and rain making servicing tough, but we knew our car inside out.

“We can’t wait for the next race to get an even higher position.”

College Rally Team Take to the Tracks

Mark Knight said: “We’d tasked the students with recommissioning the rally car and bringing it back to a rally ready standard to compete and it was great seeing them put their knowledge and skills into practice in a real-work environment.

“Experiences like this give them the chance to showcase their creativity and professionalism against skilled teams from across the country.

“Everyone worked as a unit and nothing seemed to faze them over the two days, overcoming any unexpected hurdle that came their way.

“A great effort and performance for what was the College’s first every motorsport event and one to beat in next year’s race!”

The Legend Fires North West Stages Rally, now in its 20th year, is recognised as one of the biggest and toughest sealed surface races in England.

Thousands of spectators turn out to watch the race that started at the Norbreck Castle Hotel and finished at the Marine Hall.

Preston’s College offers a range of automotive courses spanning Levels 1-3 and you can find out more on the online website.

Did you attend Preston’s College? Have you heard of the Legend Fired North West Stages Rally? Let us know in the comments below