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31 October, 2012
AUSTRALIA CROWNED F1 IN SCHOOLS WORLD CHAMPIONS 2012
Cold Fusion, a team from Adelaide, Australia, have been crowned F1 in Schools World Champions 2012 at the eighth World Finals held at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. This team of five 16 and 17 year old students from Brighton Secondary School turned up the heat on their rivals to lift the Bernie Ecclestone World Champions trophy and receive Motorsport and Automotive Engineering Scholarships for City University, London. In the presence of His Highness Sheikh Nehyan Bin Mubarak Al Hehyan, UAE Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research, the 33 teams gathered in the RED Auditorium at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi for the Awards Celebration this evening. Cold Fusion were presented with their trophy by Nico Hulkenberg, Sahara Force India F1 driver and Founder and Chairman of F1 in Schools, Andrew Denford.
“I’m speechless” said Team Manager, Jane Burton, “It is just awesome, an amazing day, a fantastic week and to top it all we are the World Champions. We’ve been working for this for years now and it means everything to us. Winning the City University scholarships is something we’re all very keen to take up, but for now we’re just over the moon, I don’t think it has sunk in and I think it will take a while. It’s been a very special experience and we have just loved doing F1 in Schools.“
The World Champions will return to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi tomorrow for a very special appointment, meeting Scuderia Ferrari F1 drivers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, when they visit the Abu Dhabi attraction tomorrow, the first of many treats in store for the F1 in Schools World Champions. Next stop will be a trip to the F1 paddock tomorrow ahead of the 2012 FORMULA ONE ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX, with the opportunity to rub shoulders with the drivers and personalities from the world of F1.
Cold Fusion team members said of the day ahead, “It will be another day to remember for us, and we can’t quite believe it is all happening; it’s all very exciting. Winning the World Champions title is the ultimate prize, but to have all these extra opportunities is just topping it off.”
The Australian team beat 21 other countries and 32 teams to claim the F1 in Schools World Champions title, after taking the National title earlier this year. The runners-up to Cold Fusion were Team Ignite from Dame Alice Owen’s School, Hertford, representing UK and it was England who claimed third place with Rush from Robert May’s School taking the honours.
Denford said of the eighth F1 in Schools World Finals, “It’s been an amazing three days of competition and we’ve seen some exceptionally talented students produce an unbelievably high standard of work. Cold Fusion impressed all the judges with the engineering of their car, the depth of their research and development and the innovative approach they had taken. There was even a feature which is part of the Red Bull Racing car design, although the team didn’t know this when they developed it and is an indication of just how much effort they put into the competition.“
"There can only be one F1 in Schools World Champion team, but all the students at the World Finals brought to Abu Dhabi highly competitive cars and highly professional supporting elements and they can all be justifiably proud of their achievements" added Denford. "It is not only the F1 in Schools competition which they learn from, it is the overall experience of travelling to another country, meeting other students from different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles which is an invaluable experience which they will never forget."
Cold Fusion not only won the World Champions crown, they took the Fastest Car Award with a time of 1.045 seconds on the 20 metre race track, were victorious in the Best Engineered Car Award and were the winners of the Knockout Racing Competition.
Twenty awards were presented at the event:
Award Winners Presented By
Ends.
About F1 in Schools
F1 in Schools aims to help change perceptions of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) by creating a fun and exciting learning environment for young people to develop an informed view about careers in engineering, Formula One, Science, marketing and technology. Students are given a brief to design a model compressed air powered F1™ Car of the future using CAD/CAM Engineering techniques. Cars are then manufactured on a CNC machine. Each team of between three and six students brings together their portfolio of work to present to a judging panel with a verbal and written presentation to support their model car.
The cars race on a 20 metre track, with the cars covering the distance in just over one second, a speed barrier which is yet to be broken by any student team since it was set by Team FUGA from Northern Ireland at the 2007 World Finals with a time of 1.020 seconds.
The F1 in Schools World Finals 2012 is held over the course of three days with the teams brought together for the biggest challenge of their life, competing for the prestigious Bernie Ecclestone World Champions trophy and coveted automotive and motorsport engineering scholarships to City University London.
The F1 in Schools programme operates in over 40 countries. Each of the National Champions is invited to compete at the World Finals and runners-up are invited to participate by forming a collaboration team, linking with a runners-up team from another country. The collaboration teams communicate by virtual technologies such as CISCO WebEx before finally meeting each other for the first time when they arrive in Abu Dhabi.
For further information please contact Alison Hill - ID PR & Marketing Ltd.
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