June 28, 2018
Granbury High School teams competed in the F1 in Schools national contest on June 13-16, 2018, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
Lone Star Racing placed third and earned honors for best research and development. Meanwhile, the rookie-composed Torrent Racing had the fastest car and won the knockout racing competition.
“Lone Star’s finish qualified them to collaborate with another team to advance to the World Finals in Singapore,” commented GHS engineering teacher Todd Gibson, the team sponsor. “However, with such short time to prepare and with four of them going off to college, we decided against it.”
The two GHS squads placed first and third at the regional contest in January at the same venue in order to advance to the national STEM challenge competition.
Lone Star Racing included team manager Stockton Berryman, graphics/marketing manager Ashley Boyd, design engineers Chris McKelvain and Brody Hesseltine, manufacturing engineer Claire Arnold, technical and scrutineering engineer Kyle Beck.
Torrent Racing was composed of team manager Ryyan Amsden, graphics designer Gage Molinari, manufacturing engineer Michael Quinn, and design engineer Tristan Handley.
Last year, Atlas Racing and Precision Racing represented the United States at the international contest in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 2015, Affinity won the national championship and advanced to the world finals held in Singapore. A year earlier, the team won second place at nationals and traveled to Abu Dhabi. A GHS squad also competed at the world finals in 2013, when the United States hosted the contest in Austin.
“It is disappointing that we will not be advancing to the World Finals in Singapore, but I could not be more proud of my teams and all they have accomplished this year,” Gibson said. “Our graduated seniors will be greatly missed, but we have a great group of returning competitors along with some new faces in the F1 program. As competitors in the United States continue to get stronger, we are working hard to stay on top, and I look forward to a new season.”
F1 in Schools is a multi-disciplinary challenge in which teams of students aged 9 to 19 deploy CAD/CAM software to collaborate, design, analyze, manufacture, test, and then race miniature gas-powered balsa wood F1 cars. The challenge inspires students to use technology to learn about physics, aerodynamics, design, manufacture, branding, graphics, sponsorship, marketing, leadership/teamwork, media skills and financial strategy, and apply them in a practical, imaginative, competitive and exciting way.
