“I think that motor sport has so many good values if we forget about the problems for a minute. It has so many fantastic values and especially when you get down at grassroots and you’re able to teach kids about teamwork and discipline, dealing with disappointment. I’m an advocate for STEM education and think this is a great platform and motor sport is a great platform to teach kids about STEM education because it’s kind of the sexy end of engineering isn’t it?
“If you ask most kids that are 5-11 years-old what an engineer does they likely won’t know, but if you put a Formula 1 car in front of them, they’ll think that was cool. It’s using that as a catalyst and the whole motor racing theme as a way to teach kids about STEM education.”
Following last year’s practice events, Smedley says there’s already a vision for the future of the project and how it will move forward.
The positive response included interest from Motorsport UK, which has picked up the series to become an official part of its grassroots karting ladder.
“A lot of the feedback that we got there and what people wanted was a championship. They liked the events but they wanted more than just one-off events.
“At the minute, it’s going really well but we’ve got to get out there and get it to everybody and make sure we’re getting the message to people as to what we’re about. It feels like we’ve got a growing community that are coming with us. Once you’re with us and part of the family then it just keeps growing which is really good.
“Motorsport UK has come in and said they want to back us and be involved which is brilliant because they’ve made us part of their karting pathway. So we need to get out there now.”
With such a positive reaction, there are already further plans in the works for mini championships to identify the brightest talents in the country without forcing parents to drive the length and breadth of the country.
“From October to the end of last year, we put on a five-round championship down south and then one in the Midlands. It’s like a five-round taster championship, people could come and get involved,
“What I want to do [in 2021] is to run three — six to eight round — Motorsport UK championships. I want to do it regionally. Because even if we’ve made the bit at the circuit much cheaper, you’ve still got to take into account that people have got to travel. So if we travel to them and say do a championship in the northern part of the UK, and then one in the midlands and then one in the south, then that’s us again that’s us trying to get out there more.”
With the electric series joining the Motorsport UK grassroots karting pathway, Electroheads is now gearing up for this year’s season that will serve as the proper launch of a karting category that aims to put talent on display and nullify the bank accounts.