2115 kilometers and 22 hours. That’s how long it took the team from Alice Springs to travel to Maryborough to participate in this years’ RACV Energy Breakthrough.
James McNamee, a former Maryborough resident and Highview student, has always been passionate about HPV’s and the Energy Breakthrough. Now working in the Northern Territory with the Centralian Senior College Clontarf Academy, James has had the opportunity to work with Indigenous boys through football.
The journey to Maryborough comes as a part of thier end of year, interstate trip.
Making it Happen
Each of the ten Academy members worked hard to earn their places in the team by attending school on a regular basis, applying themselves to the challenge of preparing the vehicle and undertaking other activities as required by the Academy.
In conjunction with academic requirements, many of the team members also took it upon themselves to change things in the personal lives – including changing what they eat.
Scrutineering
After a few hours sleep, the team appropriately named, Outback Cadillac headed to scrutineering. The scrutineering process is lead by a team of RACV Scrutineers and is the process that each pushcart, HPV and EEV go through to ensure the vehicles meet design specifications and are safe for both occupancy, other teams and spectators.
Design & Construction
Following scrutineering, the team then demonstrated to the Judges, their understanding of their vehicles and the concepts used throughout its design and construction. They presented the judges with all the required safety equipment whilst talking about their design ideas.
Display & Presentation
A last of the formalities for the boys was their display and presentation component. They spoke about their development as a team, ideas that did and did not work, how they overcame challenges and displayed their knowledge of the vehicle and requirements to take part in the event.
Want to learn more about our Assessment Process? Take a look here!
Night Practice
Tonight was the first night that any of the team members had taken to a race track in an HPV. In the lead up to the event, they had been riding around the roads in Alice Springs to build up their confidence. And whilst nerves were definitely kicking in during the first few laps, the boys found their rhythm and completed 18 laps during the practice session. They suffered a flat tyre very early on in the session, but after a quick wheel change they were back on track to enjoy themselves a lot.
“Much bigger than we anticipated here, we’re having a great time!”
Showtime!
Tomorrow will see the Outback Cadillac lining up ready to start the 24 hour trial. The boys completed a total of 18 laps with the fastest time recorded being 2:49 minute lap of the 1.58km RACV Track and battled with a first
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