On Wednesday 12 November, six boys from Newington College, Evan Favos (9/ME), Sebastian Hodge (9/ME), Roger Li (9/FL), Anton Maraldo (9/ME), Ashan Karanaguran (11/KL) and Felix Shannon (11/PR), along with Mr Honeywill and Mr Pyne, will be racing off to Abu Dhabi to compete in the World Championship for F1 in Schools.

This challenge tests students by making them face the same tasks and challenges as an actual F1 Team. Teams must design, make and race a model car as well as assemble a marketing, sponsorship and media package around it.

At the beginning of this year, Newington’s lead Development Class Team, ‘Quantum’ made up of Year 9 boys Evan, Sebastian, Roger and Anton competed in and won the Australian National Titles, earning them a ticket to the World Championships. However, being in the‘Development’ class category meant that the boys could not compete on their own so were paired off with a Scottish all-girl team called ‘Rapid Input’. The two teams formed ‘Impact’, and as of March this year, have been working around the clock to prepare for the World Titles this week.

As an added bonus, two students from the former Senior Professional class team at Newington ‘Zipper Effect’ Ashan Karunagaran (11/KL) and Felix Shannon (11/PR) volunteered to help. To top it all off, the added team members alongside the guidance and assistance of Mr Honeywill, Ms Lak, families and sponsors, Impact is geared up to take up the challenge of maintaining Australia’s four year winning streak.

Last Friday, the Newington College team members of Impact were interviewed by ABC TV on their journey towards the Championships. It was aired on Sunday night, and for those of you who want to see the feature again, you can click here.

The boys would especially like to thank Mr Honeywill for his many years of support and dedication supporting not only this team, but the many teams who have competed in F1 in Schools. He has taken up hours upon hours of his personal time to ensure that the teams do their best. In addition, a special thanks to Ms Lak, who has volunteered her support through the whole campaign this year. While unable to join us overseas, her help has been immeasurable and greatly appreciated by the whole team.

The team could not have wished for a better support network, and hope that their best will be enough to win.

Ashan Karunagaran (11/KL) and Felix Shannon (11/PR)
Student Mentors to Impact