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A team of pupils from Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham are set to compete on the world stage after racing to success at the F1 in Schools national finals.
The trio, Evolve, will take part in the world finals later this year to represent the UK against 40 other countries after winning the London and South East regional championship, and placing second at the national finals at Airbus in Chester.
The competition, F1 in Schools, is a design and engineering challenge which sees teams manufacture and race a miniature model of a Formula 1 racing car.
Entrants must power the car by a carbon dioxide gas canister along a 20-metre track at up to 40mph.
Designs must adhere to the stringent rules and regulations of the competition and students are also required to write extensive portfolios, present their design ideas and build a pit display to impress the judges.
Evolve is made up of 17-year-old George Stonor, Lewis Fowler and Freddie Bull, both aged 16, who have worked hard together for three years and now, in their fourth year, have achieved their goal of qualifying for the world finals.
They will now continue to prepare their car, portfolios, presentations, and pit displays for the world finals this year.
The host country for the event has yet to be announced, but in recent years has been held in Singapore, Malaysia and Abu Dhabi.
David Anderson, head teacher at QEGS, said: “My congratulations to the Evolve team, they have worked exceptionally hard and we are very proud of their achievements.
“A special word of thanks to Mr Harvey, the teacher who has worked tirelessly over the past decade to promote the competition and who has supported many students as they participated year in year out.”
As a team, the ethos of Evolve is ‘evolving a future generation of engineers’.
They have demonstrated this by giving talks at primary schools in the area, presenting to various members of the community and buying equipment from money raised through sponsorship, which is now used in lessons.
To get to the world finals and be successful, the next challenge for Evolve is to raise £15,000 through sponsorship and crowd funding.
To assist the team through manufacturing expertise or financial contributions, contact the school on 01795 533132.
Or to donate, go to gofundme.com/evolve-f1-in-schools-world-final
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