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CGLLEN Partnership Funding provided a unique opportunity for local students to participate in the RACV Energy Challenge.

THE RACV Energy Challenge has been held at this time of the year, on the streets of Maryborough for the last thirteen years. It is a competition that brings students from all over Australia together to compete in Human Powered and Energy Efficient Hybrid vehicles in a twenty four hour non stop race.

On Thursday, 25th November the Stawell Speeder team of, Anthony Taylor (team manager), Chris Peatt (team manager), Ken Reichelt (cook), Dain Carman (pit crew), Rhys Sanderson (pit crew), James Hunter, Nigel Waldron, Mathew Hall, Gareth Martin, Ben Gehan, Stuart Lang, Tristan Metcalfe, Michael Hodder (all drivers), headed for Maryborough to compete in the 2004 RACE Energy Breakthrough with the “Stawell Speeder” a little pink car with black GT stripes.

On arrival the team signed in and set up camp. On Friday they worked on the car most of the morning and then went to scrutineering and passed easily. The team then competed in the presentation and display section of the competition where they displayed considerable talent. That night they were late for night time practice due to little gremlins causing the pull start on the petrol engine to fail twice.

I am over the moon with the results the boys have achieved. They will remember this for the rest of their lives. Anthny Taylor

Saturday came and Mr Taylor headed for Ballarat to get supplies for the car as Friday nights practice showed the little pink beast to be a little slow compared to some of the other entrants. While Mr Taylor was away the team worked feverishly to complete the modifications but missed the race start. The team finally hit the track thirty minutes late and some fifteen laps down. More little gremlins crept in and the electric motor which drives one of the propulsion systems, started to overheat. With a bit of good old bush mechanic ingenuity the students added a spray bottle to the car to cool the electric motor and make the car go faster.

With dusk arriving so did the cool night air, it was time to get some speed. This was easier said than done as the previously reliable petrol engine wouldn’t start. Water had somehow found its way into the sealed fuel tank and after stripping and cleaning the carburettor a few times and replacing the fuel filter the Speeder burbled into life. From 8.30pm through to 2.00am the Speeder circulated the track at a cracking pace until the gearbox in the drive wheel cried “enough”. A distraught team thought the worst had arrived and after so much effort the race was over. Quick thinking by some members of the team saw the back wheel removed from Mr Taylor’s mountain bike and a new rear wheel was cobbled together for the Speeder and the team was racing again by 5.00am. The big surprise was that now it went even faster. All was well and the team was back on track recording some impressive lap times and speeds slowly catching the other competitors. The Speeder finally ran out of fuel and with two laps to go the electric motor came back on to take the team to the chequered flag.

In their first attempt the Stawell Secondary College managed to finish third on the track in their Hybrid class, won the Design and Construction competition, won the RACV Safety Award and finished second overall in the Hybrid Open category.

An extremely tired Mr Taylor said “ I am over the moon with the results the boys have achieved. They are a fine bunch of young people who have worked tirelessly over the last ten months and they deserve the rewards they have received.” He went on to say “ None of this would have been possible without the grant we received from the Stawell LLEN and the great help we received from our project partners who opened their doors to our team and gave of their time and expertise freely. The guys have gained so much from this project, it is difficult to pin point any one thing. All I do know is that they will remember this for the rest of their lives, I know I will”.

Anthony Taylor
Stawell Secondary College