Pupils rev up for racing glory

Formula One fever is still gripping the nation and now all eyes are on a group of school pupils determined to steer the kingdom to glory.

They may not be racing against the big boys of the sport like Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button or Sebastian Vettel but Dominic Harris, Daniel Horlor, Shawn Amirthan, Anish Vishwakoti and Hussain Mattar are on track to make an impression at the finals of the international F1 in Schools contest.

The youngsters, working under the banner of 7th Gear, came out top at St Christopher’s Senior School where teams of young engineering enthusiasts have dedicated months to meticulous planning, designing, building and testing miniature racing cars.

F1 in Schools staged a local heat of a competition that aims to introduce the young to engineering in a fun environment at the school’s Isa Town campus. The winning Year Eight students are now set to fasten their seatbelts to represent Bahrain at the world championships in Abu Dhabi in October.

The team’s design engineer Daniel, 13, from Saar, said: “We are extremely proud to be representing Bahrain at the world championships. We’ve worked hard and are very happy with the result.”

Team graphic designer Dominic, 12, also from Saar, said: “We were hoping to win but I’m still speechless! We are all extremely happy, actually too happy. I was cowering in the bathroom before the result was announced so I’m still feeling very shocked.”

The competing teams – 7th Gear, Team Calibre, Silver Bullets and Team Swift – made up of students aged between 11 and 18, started the competition process last October, attending hourly sessions on Wednesday afternoons under the supervision of Martin Plunkett, design and technology teacher, who is also the F1 in Schools director.

Mr Plunkett said: “All the students volunteered and were told the rules of the competition. They then started designing using a 3D CAD design software, SolidWorks.

“They had to then test the aerodynamics and fine tune it, getting the car completely ready before using a CNC router, a computer cutting machine.

“The students then finished them off and spray painted them. They had to also find their own sponsorship from companies within Bahrain, produce their own logos, uniforms and corporate identity.”

The winning team will fly the flag of Bahrain and compete against 24 different countries at the world finals, which will be held in October at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.

The students have been designing and manufacturing miniature race cars out of balsa wood using computer-aided design software. The cars are powered by carbon dioxide cartridges and are attached to a track by a thin wire, travelling at 20 metres per second. The cars are timed by a computer from the moment they are launched until they pass the finish line.

Team 7th Gear said that they were not completely familiar with the software before taking part. However, through tutorials and assigning each member of a group with a role they were most comfortable with, they were set to produce the best car they could.

Shawn, 13, the designer and team manager of 7th Gear’s car, said: “We are all good at something within the group, so we divided it depending on our strengths … and it worked. We won!

“Now we need to design and produce a new car and a new portfolio as well as give up our whole summer holidays for the finals, but you know what? We’re hoping to win that as well!

“We are always looking for extra corporate sponsorship for the finals. We initially received sponsorship from National Motor Company, that’s why our uniforms have the Honda and Chevrolet logos on them.”

Other team members, Anish the manufacturing engineer, and Hussain, the resource manager, both 13, were also extremely happy. They explained how this is the second time they had competed in the competition and were pipped at the post into second place last year. That experience, time management and plenty of preparation gave them the upper hand this time around, they say.

“We built on our success of coming second place last year,” said Anish from Janabiyah. “We are comfortable with the roles and more familiar with our duties this time around.”

As part of the competition the students were asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation explaining their process and promoting their manufacturers as well as their sponsors alongside a display stand, a portfolio and the car itself.

Marc Steene, 17, from Jasra and a member of Team Swift said: “7th Gear did extremely well. It is something they can put on their CVs and good universities will recognise it, not only academically, but as a character building exercise.

“The verbal presentation builds up public speaking confidence as well as engineering and modelling skills hand-in-hand with the whole process. They should keep competing. They are a force to be reckoned with.”

Feras Fayaz, 13, from A’ali, said: “I’m on Team Calibre and even if we didn’t win it was still a good experience and I had a lot of fun.”

Yakim Dondi, 12, a member of Silver Bullets, from Saar, said: “Even though my team doesn’t get to go to Abu Dhabi, we’re still really happy we gave it a try.”

David Axtell, a parent governor and member of the judging panel, said the overall quality of the cars produced has improved tremendously in recent years.

“While 7th Gear will justifiably receive the plaudits, the runners-up in the race, Silver Bullet, demonstrated what can be achieved with the application of hard work and sound reasoning through experimentation,” he said. “As first-year entrants I was truly impressed with the design and finish of their car, which would have challenged more senior winners in previous years. 

“Team Calibre also deserve a mention for the passion and knowledge with which they spoke about F1 and its synergies with this competition during their verbal presentation. 

“The huge overall improvements in quality are a direct result of the dedication and commitment showed by the DT team, led by Martin Plunkett.”

The races were carried out manually and automatically. In the first instance a trigger had to be pushed for action. Success depended on the fastest reaction time as well as the car’s speed. In automatic mode the computer triggered the cars to all go at the same time.

The winning team can be followed on Twitter@team7thgear or on www.facebook.com/team7thgear. The members have also been working on their own website www.team7thgear.weebly.com