Friday 16 October marked the annual “Evolocity” race day, where teams of young engineers from across the country design and build electric vehicles to race in a series of events at Kart Sport Hamilton race track. 

Our team consisted of Year 11 students Aaron Gibson, Jono Voss, Finlay Gale-O’Donnell, Nick Cooper and Seth Thompson, with Mike Wright as the Teacher in Charge. 

The team worked hard during lunches and after school clubs to build the vehicle, but lockdown and Covid-19 restrictions put a severe dent in our available time and we were not sure if we would even finish on time. With barely any time to go before the competition, disaster struck when a wheel folded in half during trialling. The team put in some late nights in the final week to modify and strengthen the frame to accommodate different sized wheels, and “The Trike” was finally finished at 8:30pm the night before the competition with no time for testing! 

The day saw the finest engineering talent from across the Bay of Plenty and Waikato come together with their creations. The Papamoa College team and 'The Trike' performed well in the three events, drawing a lot of attention for its low down dragster styling. 

Aaron Gibson placed 5th in the drag race and Nick Cooper was very unlucky not to come away with a win in the Gymkhana event. 

The Technology department is looking to grow the team for next year, entering up to 3 teams. If you are interested, please contact Mr Wright for details and to reserve a place!

mwright@papamoacollege.school.nz