"F1 IN SCHOOLS" CROWNS CHAMPIONS
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The F1 in Schools initiative aimed at nurturing the design and engineering stars of the future crowned two new champions at last weekendÂ’s Autosport International show in Birmingham.
hey singapore sent a team? wonder which sch they were from. The prize for winning this competition is a scholarship to study in my course in my uni!
Bradfield Panthers from Bradfield School in Sheffield won the UK national championship, while The Stingers from Trinity Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia, scooped the world title.
The competition involves teams of school children aged 11-18 using CAD/CAM software to design and manufacture miniature CO2-powered racing cars and then racing them over a distance of 20 metres.
Students have to manage the project themselves, including drawing up a business plan, raising the sponsorship to finance it and presenting their ideas in front of a panel of eminent judges.
The Bradfield team saw off strong competition from 31 finalist teams from around the UK on the strength of its outstanding presentation and impressive design portfolio.
With a budget of just £700 and an average age of just over 13, the Panthers edged out considerably better financed and more senior opposition.
“I think we have just found the Adrian Neweys of the future,” said ITV-F1 analyst Mark Blundell, who presented the winning team with its trophy.
The Panthers’ reward is to win a place in next year’s world championships, to be held in Disneyland, USA, as well as the opportunity to take on real F1 teams in a ‘David vs Goliath' head-to-head challenge at this year’s US Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, The Stingers beat 16 teams from 11 countries (including South Africa, the USA, Kuwait, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and South Korea) to earn the coveted Bernie Ecclestone trophy awarded to the world champions.
The Stingers were pushed hard by Team Flash from St Alban’s College in Pretoria, South Africa, which won the ‘best team sponsorship and marketing' prize as well as the ‘best engineered car’.
“It was a big surprise when we won,” said Alexander Nunn, manufacturing engineer for The Stingers, which comprised six students aged 13-14.
“I’m shocked personally and very, very happy. There are some great competitors out there, but hey, it’s no fun without great competition.”
In designing their car, The Stingers visited the Hawker deHavilland plant in Australia to study aircraft wing design and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology to learn about aerodynamics.
They even used the Schlieren technique for photographing invisible gases with a high-speed, 1,000-frames-per-second camera.
Each winning student will be awarded an automotive engineering scholarship at The City University, London – worth a total of over $500,000.
Launched in Britain in 2000, F1 in Schools landed a major coup last year when founder and chairman Andrew Denford secured the official blessing of F1 supremo Ecclestone.
In addition to ITV-F1 commentator James Allen, who has been involved since the beginning, five of F1Â’s brightest technical brains have signed up as patrons of the scheme.
RenaultÂ’s Pat Symonds recently joined FerrariÂ’s Ross Brawn, ToyotaÂ’s Mike Gascoyne, WilliamsÂ’ Sam Michael and HondaÂ’s Geoff Willis by pledging his support.
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if ony dey can set 1 up in sg...
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All this while, it has been NATO. I doubt there will be any racing circuit set up in Singapore anytime soon.Originally posted by SBS9828X:if ony dey can set 1 up in sg...
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of course no track wud be set up... monaco oso wun do such thing
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They came to RMIT?
Holy crap!! -
there were teams from singapore. I wonder which singapore schools took part.