BRITISH STUDENTS READY FOR TOUGH RACING IN FORMULA ONE IN SCHOOLS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009 NEXT WEEK
It is not only Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton with their British F1 teams that are competing in an F1 World Championship. Four teams of British students from UK schools will be battling with students from around the globe in the F1 in Schools World Championships 2009 which take place next week in London. The talented students, between 14 and 19 years old, will be competing in this innovative educational initiative, all racing for glory, which brings with it the Bernie Ecclestone World Championship Trophy and coveted Automotive and Motorsport Engineering scholarships to City University London for each member of the winning team.
Velocity, a team of students from St. John Payne School in Chelmsford, Essex; Road Rippers from Lochgelly High School in Scotland, Team Dash from Fitzalan High School, Cardiff, Wales and DNA from Ashfield Boys High School, Belfast, Northern Ireland will face tough opposition from schools across the globe.
The focus of the event is the time trials, with the teams racing their own car on a specially designed 20 metre track to test the speed of each F1 model. Powered by compressed air, the cars are fired down the track at a scale speed equivalent to over 220 mph. With the world record standing at just over one second, it’s fast and furious action on the race track for these engineering protégés.
This unique student challenge is the largest global educational initiative. School children aged 11 to 18 use CAD/CAM software to design, build and test a model compressed air powered balsa wood F1 car of the future and it takes place in over 30 countries around the world, with an estimated 6 million school children competing.
The World Championships will bring together the students for three days of highly intense competition, but they will also have the chance to enjoy the sights of London. A trip on the River Thames will give students the opportunity to see many famous landmarks including the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, London Eye and Tower Bridge. They will also be treated to a night at the theatre to see the highly acclaimed production of ‘Oliver’. The 2009 F1 in Schools World Championships begins with a cultural exchange event with the students gathering to meet each other and exchange small cultural gifts at the IET headquarters in London. It will culminate with a glittering awards ceremony and the crowning of the new World Champions.
Andrew Denford, Founder, F1 in Schools, says of the World Championships, “The fifth annual F1 in School World Championships will be hotly contested as this Challenge has captured the imagination of thousands of students around the globe and the standards are moving higher and higher. Schools see the value of incorporating the Challenge into their extra-curricular offerings first hand, with the students quickly becoming immersed in the F1 in Schools activities, and enjoying learning through practical application. The association with Formula One motor racing brings engineering to life for the students. I know that all the teams are highly competitive and there is tremendous pressure for national glory, as well as the coveted scholarship prize.”
Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One Management gave his support to F1 in Schools by granting the challenge a world-wide protected trademark and a new logo in 2005. Since this time the initiative has built close links with teams and personalities within Formula One as well as the education sector. Ian Wright, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for 14-19 Reform and Apprenticeships will officially open the event on Tuesday 15th September and Vernon Coaker, Minister of State for Schools and Learners will officially close the event on the evening of Thursday 17th September. Bernie Ecclestone will be presenting the trophy which he gave to F1 in Schools to be presented to the World Champions.
