Bunbury school teams head east for F1 competition

Two Bunbury teams are set to impress at the F1 in Schools model car racing national competition this weekend in Adelaide after qualifying in the Western Australian championships last year.

Representing Newton Moore Senior High School, Bonnie Cook, Shavani Ralm, Dayna Walton and Kristina Ellem make up the school’s “professional” team, Cosmos, while Bronwyn McBeath, Shachar Eyal and Stephanee O’Neil will compete for their team Knights of Armour in the “development” category.

With the qualifying rounds held late last year at the Bunbury school, teams had the opportunity to make alterations to their model vehicles ahead of the championships.

Students said the time had allowed them to fine tune their cars and ensure they took the fastest and lightest model possible.

They said having access to a 3D printer to re-model their cars had allowed them to create a lighter design, despite it taking longer to construct.

They will join 27 other schools from around the country at the week-long competition with the group of seven saying they were eager to meet other students and connect over their shared passion for science.

While their minds were set on making their school proud, they said they were quietly confident heading into the competition and determined to put their “best foot forward”.

The grateful recipients of a $9,900 federal Government grant also gained sponsorship from Ford, Repco and Harrison Packaging, who helped make their journey across the country possible.