We are Apex Racing, a STEM Racing team based at Matthew Arnold School, a state school in Oxford.

What is STEM Racing?

STEM Racing is a global competition supported by Formula 1. It challenges students to create their own miniature racing team and design, test, and manufacture a smaller scale car. To achieve this, students must work in small teams to achieve their goal. These miniature cars are designed in CAD, tested through CFD and FEA and are then 3D printed and CNC’d into the final car which can reach speeds of almost 80kph powered by a CO2 cartridge.

Previous successes in the competition

Over the past 2 years, Apex Racing has had many successes in the competition, fending off other teams from engineering colleges and Sixth Forms. We have been crowned ‘Regional Champions’ twice in our 2-year competition history as a result of our hard work and skill. We were awarded ‘Best Engineered Car’ in 2024 and 2025 at the regional finals; in 2024 we won the award for ‘Fastest Car’ and in 2025, the award for the best display. Aside from these main awards we competed at the National Finals in 2025, where our car was the 6th fastest in the time trials in our class. We are the first team and only team to ever proceed to the National Finals from our school.

The team

Our team consists of Henry Hickman, who is our team principal or, in other words, team manager; Elliot Read, who is our chief technical officer and is in charge of designing and building our car in CAD and managing our engineering program as a whole; Oliver Sjöberg, who is head of simulations and our live testing program; Robert Wynne, who is our manufacturing engineer; and Anna O’Rouke, who is our graphic designer. We are all students at Matthew Arnold School in years 11-12.

Looking to the future

In 2026, we will be entering the competition at the highest level: Professional Class. To achieve success at this level, we need to have a well-funded engineering program which will enable us to test prototypes effectively, and manufacture and buy parts for our car such as expensive ceramic bearings. We also need to have a professional brand image; to do this we need a high-level display at regional and national events and our own team shirts. And finally we need to be able to pay the entry fee for the competition.

This all amounts to a large sum. We have secured sponsorship from several industry partners such as E3D (a large manufacturer of 3D printing components) and Damar Signs (a company specializing in display boards and signage). We continue to explore further opportunities for sponsorship, but to maximize our chances of success in the 2026 competition, we would be delighted if you could donate to our team, whether that be a small or large amount.

If you would like to follow us through our journey please see our Linktree to discover our social media and learn more about our partners.