The energy breakthrough is Australia’s largest school-based STEM and sustainability program and event where school teams design, build and race human-powered and energy-efficient vehicles.
This challenge ranges all the way from primary schools competing in robotics and junkyard challenges, to secondary schools competing in a gruelling 24-hour endurance test.
Secondary teams start on the Friday with a presentation to share your knowledge, you’re training and your willingness to work in a team environment. Then you head through to scrutineering where your trike gets picked apart to insure it is race ready and safe they check everything from your seatbelts to your headlights. They really check your trike over they also ask lots of question to insure everybody knows their stuff. Teams then compete is a 2-hour time trial so that everyone can get a feel for the track you are also fighting for grid positions trying to get a good start at the front of the pack. It is early to bed for the whole team Friday night.
On Saturday the energy is high everyone working together to ensure trikes are ready to race at 11am the track is cleared by a safety car. Then the exiting things start! Grid up at 11:30am all trikes on the track all riders ready to go the anticipation is real. 11:50am rolls around and you have the national anthem followed by a rolling lap. Then at 12pm everything is a go once you pass through the flag the track is live for the next 24-hours the race is on!
By midnight the teams are tired legs are soar that it is crash central, where riders roll and crash and things break and teams struggle through the night. By the time 3am rolls around we are in the graveyard shift the hardest time in the race fighting sleep fighting fatigue even fighting the mechanics of the trike. We are always so glad to see the sun come up on Sunday morning. Only 6 hours to go!
The pressure is on now the fight to get a podium spot anything can happen in this final stretch we once had a trike crash in the last lap of the race and get pulled due to a broken horn. So until the final flag is waved it is really anyone’s game. As the race draws to a close racing grows dirty teams grow desperate. But when your trike crosses that finish line after the 24-hours, pure relief is all anyone feels. After all the effort put in by the final rider, they deserve a cool down so the only reasonable thing to do is throw water on them, right? Some teams even go as far as silly string or even one year baked beans!
You make the podium, you then head to awards, or a drive through run on the way home preferably Maccas then it’s time for bed for a well-deserved sleep. Once you do this race once you never want to do anything else!
Written by Freiya