Technology Challenge Maryborough

Last updated

The Fraser Coast Technology Challenge is an annual youth and technology event held in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland has been a committed supporter of this event. The Fraser Coast Technology Challenge 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 10 year anniversary of the first running of the event. Following the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the event has not returned, and has been superseded by the QLD Pedal Prix Super Series.

Contents

24 Hour Endurance Event

The blue-ribbon event is the 24-hour Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) endurance race. The race runs from 12:00 pm Saturday to 12:00 pm Sunday on the second weekend of September – the weekend of the Technology Challenge Event. School HPV teams arrive at 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 in 2002 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.

Track

In the early years, the track was 1.2 km long. The current track is 1.53 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

YearEntrantsOverall WinnerLapsFastest LapBy TeamOfficial Timing
200216Maryborough State High SchoolNot RecordedNot Recorded
2003Maryborough State High SchoolNot RecordedNot Recorded
2004Maryborough State High SchoolNot RecordedNot Recorded
2005Centenary Heights State High School2:01.39Tannum SHS
2006Maryborough State High School1:55.25MSHS Rhinos
Longer Track Debuted
2007Nanango State High School2:35.27MSHS Rhinos
2008Nanango State High School2:26.56Nanango Slipstreamers
2009Nanango State High School (Slipstreamers)4912:12.48MSHS Wallabeasts
2010St Mary's College Maryborough (Fast Forward)2:16.1Springwood Storm
2011105St Mary's College Maryborough (Shooting Stars)5022:18.4Springwood Stealth MyLaps
2012107St Mary's College Maryborough (Synergy Racing)4942:19.9Urgangan Baboons MyLaps
2013118Ormeau Woods SHS (Ormeau Eagles Senior)4802:06.1Ipswich Grammar (Hybrid) MyLaps
2014122Staunch5001:56.0Rode Rage MyLaps
2015121Switched on Too (Hybrid)5222:05.2Switched on Too (Hybrid) MyLaps
2016141Ormeau Woods State High School5351:59.113Road Runners (Hybrid) Sporthive
2017?St Mary's College587?Code Red

Since the first staging of this event, the number of entrants has increased dramatically (from 16 HPV teams in 2002 to 121 in 2015) and now includes many categories of HPVs, including Tandem and Hybrid. 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. In 2014, the Victorian Rode Rage Team entered and finished 4th overall.

Endurance Teams

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, IP Telco, ABSComTech, 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 and Series

Related Research Articles

Public holidays in Australia refer to the holidays recognised in law in Australia. Although they are declared on a state and territory basis, they comprise a mixture of nationally celebrated days and holidays exclusive to the individual jurisdictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryborough, Queensland</span> City in Queensland, Australia

Maryborough is a city and a suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the suburb of Maryborough had a population of 15,287 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hervey Bay</span> City in Queensland, Australia

Hervey Bay is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately 290 kilometres (180 mi) or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is located on the bay of the same name open to the Coral Sea between the Queensland mainland and nearby K'gari. The local economy relies on tourism which is based primarily around whale watching in Platypus Bay to the north, ferry access to K'gari, accessible recreational fishing and boating and the natural north facing, calm beaches with wide undeveloped foreshore zones. In October 2019, Hervey Bay was named the First Whale Heritage Site in the world by the World Cetacean Alliance, for its commitment to and practices of sustainable whale and dolphin watching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryborough, Victoria</span> City in Victoria, Australia

Maryborough is a town in Victoria, Australia, on the Pyrenees Highway, 58 kilometres (36 mi) north of Ballarat and 168 kilometres (104 mi) northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Central Goldfields. At the 2021 census, the urban centre had a population of 7,769, while the larger Level 2 Statistical Area which includes the urban fringe, had a population of 8,160, both an increase of more than 3% since 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creswick, Victoria</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Creswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia, 18 kilometres north of Ballarat and 122 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Creswick had a population of 3,170. Creswick was named after the Creswick family, the pioneer settlers of the region.

The Energy Breakthrough, previously known by its sponsorship name RACV Energy Breakthrough, is a joint initiative of the Country Education Partnership, the Shire of Central Goldfields and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian rules football in Queensland</span> First official football code played in 1866

In Queensland, Australian rules football dates back to the colonial era in 1866, with organised competitions being continuous since the 1900s. Today, it is most popular in South East Queensland and the Cairns Region. There are 11 regional club competitions, the highest profile of which are the semi-professional Queensland Australian Football League and AFL Cairns. It is governed by AFL Queensland. According to Ausplay there are 51,941 adult players with a per capita rate of 1.2%, just under half of which are female, and 30,563 children. It is the seventh most participated team sport and fourth code of football after soccer, touch and rugby league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damascus College Ballarat</span> Independent, co-educational, day school in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Damascus College is Ballarat’s only Catholic co-educational secondary college. It was established in 1995 after three separate Catholic colleges, St Martin's in the Pines, Sacred Heart College and St Paul's College amalgamated. The college is located on a treed 20 hectare campus in Mount Clear, 7 km from Ballarat's central business district. Damascus College is a day school for secondary students in years 7 to 12.

Oberon High School is a secondary school located in Armstrong Creek, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1963, in the Geelong suburb of Belmont, Oberon High is a single campus years 7–12 school, now situated in the suburb of Armstrong Creek. The current principal is Tim McMahon.

The Australian HPV Super Series is an annual championship held in South Australia and Western Australia featuring velomobiles racing around enclosed circuits for a period between 6 and 24 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard, Queensland</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Howard is a rural town and locality in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is a southern boundary of the Dundaburra peoples of the Northern Kabi Kabi Isis districts and surrounds. It is located 284 kilometres (176 mi) north of Brisbane and 37 kilometres (23 mi) west of Hervey Bay. In the 2021 census, the locality of Howard had a population of 1,394 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraser Coast Region</span> Local government area in Queensland, Australia

The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains K'gari. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Cities of Maryborough and Hervey Bay and the Shires of Woocoo and most of Tiaro. The resident population at the 2021 census was 111,032 and the estimated population in 2023 was 117,940.

Solar car racing refers to competitive races of electric vehicles which are powered by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the surface of the car. The first solar car race was the Tour de Sol in 1985 which led to several similar races in Europe, US and Australia. Such challenges are often entered by universities to develop their students' engineering and technological skills, but many business corporations have entered competitions in the past. A small number of high school teams participate in solar car races designed exclusively for high school students.

The Victorian Athletic League organises professional footrunning events ranging from 70 to 3200 metres. The most famous of these events is the Stawell Gift which has been run since 1878 and hosts the richest footrace in Australia. Many other gifts are held around Victoria in country and metro locations including Ballarat, Bendigo, Wangaratta, Maryborough, Keilor, Yarrawonga, Ringwood, Rye and Olympic Park. Races are run under a handicap system which makes races competitive. Each race has a different handicap limit. Generally, the greater the sum of the prize money for a race, the less handicap is available, limiting the class of runners that can win. Runners are awarded prize money when making finals and bookmaking occurs at major meets.

The Fraser Coast Chronicle is an online newspaper serving the Fraser Coast area in Queensland, Australia. It was started as the Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser.

The Victorian HPV Grand Prix Series is an annual championship held in Victoria featuring HPV's racing around enclosed circuits for periods between six and 24 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torbanlea</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Torbanlea is a rural town and locality in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Torbanlea had a population of 841 people.

The 2015 Australian human powered vehicle season began on the 28 February with the first round of the Victorian HPV Series at Casey Fields and concludes with the RACV Energy Breakthrough series at Maryborough, Victoria.

The 2014 Australian human powered vehicle season began on the 28 February with the first round of the Victorian HPV Series at Casey Fields and concludes with the RACV Energy Breakthrough series at Maryborough, Victoria.

Owanyilla is a rural town and locality in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Owanyilla had a population of 245 people.

References