Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker joins F1 education race

AN MP put his reaction time to the test in a Formula One race.

Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker took part in a head to head at Denford’s new purpose-built facility in Brighouse.

He was given a guided tour of the new factory at Armytage Road by Andrew Denford, chief executive of Denford Ltd and founder and chairman of F1 in Schools.

The MP then took on Mr Denford in a head to head race on the specially designed 20 metre track used by F1 in Schools teams as part of the competition.

The MP was victorious with a faster reaction time.

Craig said: “I went to have a look at the fantastic work they are doing nationally and internationally through the Formula One in Schools programme, which is going out to 38 countries.

“Brighouse High School is a big fan of Formula One in Schools and it’s great to see how engineering can be incorporated into so many different topics in the curriculum.”

The scheme is a Brighouse-born idea created to engage young people into not just Formula One, but into engineering.

Andrew Denford said: “We are delighted that Craig made time in his busy schedule to visit our new facility and with the seventh F1 in Schools World Finals being held in Malaysia in September it was a fantastic opportunity for Craig to learn more about the global success of the F1 in Schools Technology Challenge of which Denford are the proud founders and sponsors.

“As Craig sits on the Education Select Committee at Westminster this was a great opportunity for us to gain his support.”