Clifton wins F1 In Schools Challenge

CLIFTON College pupils were all smiles as their team competing in this years’ Top Gear Festival’s Legacy Project – the F1 In Schools Challenge 2014, were crowned champions, at the finals.

The team called Team Honey Badger, raced their prototype car down the 20-metre track, winningin a time of 1,1278 secs at the The F1 in Schools Technology Challenge 2014, a competition where 12 teams of students designed and created their prototype F1 car of the future with the support of Top Gear Festival Legacy Unit and Durban University of Technology – Faculty of Engineering.

The F1 In Schools Challenge is a collaborative initiative between Top Gear Festival Legacy Unit Durban, DUT, Sangari SA, Autodesk and Modena. The project, which was piloted last year, is about encouraging high school pupils to pursue future careers in engineering, science and technology – fields which are the backbone of any economy. Maths and science therefore play an integral role for pupils who participate in this competition.

In this year’s challenge, school teams from Clifton College, Crossmoor Secondary School, Durban Girls’ College, Eden College, George Campbell Technical School, Inkosi Umdibaniso Comprehensive High School, Open Air School, Phoenix Technical School, Sivananda Technical School and Umlazi Comtech battled it out at the finals.

The top three teams were Team Honey Badger (Clifton College), Team Torc (George Campbell Technical School) and in third place was Team Alpha (Durban Girls’ College).

The teams were judged on a number of criterias and awards went to schools for Best Engineered Car -Team Velox (Crossmoor Secondary School), Best Verbal Presentation – Team Torc (George Campbell Technical School), Best Portfolio and Pit Display -Team Honeybadger (Clifton College), Best Team Marketing and Sponsorship -Team Alpha (Durban Girls’ College), Fastest Car and Overall Winner of the Challenge – Team Honey Badger (Clifton College).

All teams will exhibit at the Top Gear Festival, set to take place on 21 and 22 June 21. Here, festival-goers will be able to see the miniature cars race as well as the teams’ pit displays and portfolios.