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THE race-ace children who representedBahrain in the ninth F1 in Schools World Finals finished the competition with the fourth fastest car in the world.
Team Epiphany from St Christopher’s Schoolknocked out the United Kingdom national champions and one of the contest’sfavourites in the reaction racing contest and made it through to thequarter-finals before being narrowly beaten by Team Bolt, from India, who wereeventually crowned world champions.
The event, which also attracted 38 otherschool teams from around the world, was held alongside November’s 2013 FormulaOne United States Grand Prix, which took place at the Circuit of The Americasin Austin, Texas.
The youngsters worked under the supervisionof Martin Plunkett, design and technology teacher, who is also the F1 inSchools director, and he was ‘proud and delighted’ at their performance.
“Our students thoroughly enjoyed their timein Austin, pulled out all the stops and created quite an impression,” he said.“Epiphany managed a time of 1.075 seconds, which challenged some of the biggestteams in the world!”
At the world finals each team had to bringalong a pit display, their cars and project portfolio, as well as havingprepared a verbal presentation for the judges. The competition brought togethermore than 300 students from 23 different countries with a real diversity ofcultures, cuisines, lifestyles and education.
F1 in Schools challenges students to createtheir own Formula One team which is commissioned to design, manufacture andrace the fastest miniature Formula One Car of the Future; a 21cm long scalemodel designed using 3D solid modelling software and machined from a block ofbalsa wood, incorporating 3D print technology in its front and rear wings.The cars they created raced on a 20-metretrack, with the cars covering the distance in just over one second, a speedbarrier which is yet to be broken by any student team since it was set by TeamFUGA from Northern Ireland at the 2007 World Finals with a time of 1.020seconds.
Bahrain’s representatives recorded theirbest achievement to date by finishing 23rd out of 38 teams and made a hugeimprovement from last year’s contest held in the UAE, from 293 points toscoring a commendable 583 points.
The team recorded a top race time of 1.074seconds.
In one heart-stopping dramatic incident theteam had to repair their car when a wheel came off and managed to carry out therepairs and continue racing. Team Epiphany was led by team manager Suad ElJawhari, 16, with Lahan Sperinck, 15, (marketing manager), Rishi Kumra, 15,(manufacturing engineer), Sami Yateem, 16, (design engineer), Sheran Mendis,15,(graphic design) and Mohammad El Jawhari, 12 (support engineer).
Suad, who is studying for her GCSEs andwants to carve out a career in engineering after further studies in the US orGermany, said: “It’s been a life-changing experience for all of us. We met someamazing young people and became very close with the Greek, Chinese and UAEteams.”
During their US adventure she bumped intoF1 world champion Sebestian Vettel and was inspired by a talk about womenworking in motorsport given by Monisha Kaltenborn, Sauber F1’s team principal,and Indi-car racer Simona de Silvestro.
The children contributed BD700 each towardsthe cost of the US adventure and raised a further BD4,600 through sponsorshipto help with the cost of flights, hotel accommodation, uniforms andregistration fees.
The trip was made possible by thegenerosity of parents, sponsors and supporters and the team’s enthusiasm anddynamism in convincing the Bahrain International Circuit, McLaren Automotive,Trust RE Reinsurance and Classic Promo Marketing to back their dreams.
The school’s recent investment in a 3Dprinter, at a cost of around BD6,500, also made it possible to make theessential parts using a specialist computer programme. They were able to testthe quality of the car throughout its development by using a virtual wind-tunnel.
Mr Plunkett added: “We would like to say aspecial thank you to our parents for their support and, more importantly, ourvalued sponsors.”
He said the leading teams received massivebacking with businesses and companies playing a pivotal role offering theircountry’s representatives substantial technical and financial support. MrPlunkett hopes St Christopher’s success will inspire increased support infuture years.
There are plans in the pipeline to involve more Bahrain schools in next year’sproject that are receiving high-level scrutiny. The winning Indian team walkedaway with the accolade of F1 in Schools World Champions 2013, the BernieEcclestone World Champions trophy and university scholarships to CityUniversity London.
