Technology Challenge Maryborough

The RACQ Technology Challenge Maryborough is an annual youth and technology event held in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. The event aims to help develop efficient, environmentally friendly, vehicles as forms of transport, as well as using emerging technologies in ways to help further students education. Schools from across Australia and New Zealand enter teams in the challenge. 2012 was the decade anniversary of the running of the event.

24 Hour Endurance Event

The blue-ribbon event is the 24 hour Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) endurance race. The race runs from 12pm Saturday to 12pm Sunday on the second weekend of September - the weekend of the Technology Challenge Event. School cycling teams come to Maryborough throughout the Thursday and Friday of the week. All teams undergo HPV scrutineering and team license checks on the Friday afternoon. All teams camp on the two school ovals of the school on Friday night. Following the Saturday morning official race briefing, the streets are closed and a 2-hour practice/qualifying session is held for all teams. The other minor events run during the morning, before the race start at 12:00 pm.

The inaugural race was won by the local Open Boys team from Maryborough State High School. Maryborough State High School teams won the 24 hour event three years in a row. In 2005, Centenary Heights State High School broke the local team's three year consecutive winning streak, before Maryborough took back the title in 2006. In 2007, Nanango State High School began a streak of three consecutive overall wins. In Recent years, several different schools have won the 24 hour race.

In the early years, the track was 1.2 km long. The current track is 1.5 km long, and forms a rectangle around Maryborough State High School and Central SS. The two important sections of the track for overtaking are the hairpin corner at the end of the start/finish straight, and the 0.45 km long hill rise on the back side of the school.

Winners

Year Overall Winner Laps Fastest Lap By Team
2002 Maryborough State High School Not Recorded Not Recorded
2003 Maryborough State High School Not Recorded Not Recorded
2004 Maryborough State High School Not Recorded Not Recorded
2005 Centenary Heights State High School 2:01.39 Tannum SHS
2006 Maryborough State High School 1:55.25 MSHS Rhinos
Longer Track Debuted
2007 Nanango State High School 2:35.27 MSHS Rhinos
2008 Nanango State High School 2:26.56 Nanango Slipstreamers
2009 Nanango State High School - Slipstreamers 491 2:12.48 MSHS Wallabeasts
2010 St Mary's College Maryborough - Fast Forward 2:16.1 Springwood Storm
2011 St Mary's College Maryborough 502 2:18.4 Springwood Stealth
2012 St Mary's College Maryborough - Synergy Racing Urgangan Baboons
2013 Ormeau Eagles Senior 480 2:06.1 Ipswich Grammar (Hybrid)

Since the first staging of this event, the number of entrants has increased dramatically (from 16 HPV teams in 2002 to 120 in 2013) and now includes many categories of HPVs including Tandem. The Technology Challenge was originally modelled on the RACV Energy Breakthrough held in Maryborough, Victoria. One of the original organisers from the Victorian event helped instigate and organise the first Queensland event after he relocated to Maryborough, Qld. 2007 saw the first non-Queensland entry, from Parade College in Victoria. At the time they were considered the National Champions, but they only managed fourth. No other interstate teams have entered since, although we are welcoming the Victorian Road Rage Team in 2014.

Endurance Team

Secondary schools enter up to 10 person teams:
6 to 8 dedicated riders
- Junior (Yr 8 to 10)
- Senior/Open (Yr 11/12)
2 dedicated Pit/support crew
1 team manager/representative

Minor Events

Other events held at the Challenge include: CO2 Dragsters, Robotics, Solar Powered boats, Solar powered cars and the Smilie Pushcarts. The top New Zealand CO2 Dragsters also come and compete against the top Queensland dragsters.

The sponsors of the event, Fraser Coast Regional Council, Queensland Events, RACQ, Ergon Energy, Handy Hire, Widelinx, Station Square Shopping Centre, Rotary Club Of Maryborough, Rotary Club of Maryborough Sunrise and Fraser Coast Chronicle continue to see the event grow in professionalism and enthusiasm, providing a fantastic platform for young people to learn through technology and teamwork in a fun and safe environment.

Other HPV Races

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, September 23, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.