Grass track racer in pole position

Reaseheath College motor vehicle  student Aidan Arrowsmith certainly hasn’t been allowing the grass to grow under his wheels.

The 17 year-old is one of the UK’s most  promising young grass track racers and he’s just finished a successful year in sixth position in the British Autograss series. He was also third in the North of England championships.

Aidan, who lives in Wem and attended the town’s Thomas Adams School , has been racing autograss cars in the Junior Special class since he was 12 years old. He’s now looking forward to handing over his race car to his 13 year-old brother, Jordan, and is moving on to his first season in Class 1 racing a Mini Cooper.

Thanks to the support of his parents Alan and Katrina, both boys compete at UK wide meetings every weekend during the March to November season.

Aidan’s also been first off the grid in choosing Reaseheath College in Nantwich for his future career. Reaseheath’s motor vehicle department has just undergone a substantial refurbishment and offers top of the range automotive workshops, kitted out with cutting edge diagnostic equipment.

Next generation motor vehicle technicians learn their skills on a wide range of modern road cars including performance and off road vehicles. They also gain highly relevant work experience at local garages and during workshop sessions at college when they deal with real life scenarios.

Aidan is an IMIAL Level 2 Diploma in Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Principles student. He is planning to progress to Level 3 and eventually wants to build race cars, possibly eventually joining an F1 team.

As part of his course Aidan has enjoyed study trips to RAF Cosford, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, Deeside Karting circuit and the World Rally Championships. He’s now looking forward to his next  trip to the Autosport show at the NEC in January.

He says: “We looked round local colleges and decided that Reaseheath was definitely the best place to study. The workshops are very modern and the staff have all worked in the industry so they really know what they’re talking about. The classroom sessions are good too, because you learn how things work before you go into the workshops.

“But the best thing is that the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly. We work hard but we all have a good laugh too.”