JP Racing 2024
Maryborough
Last week 54 Level 5 and 6 students travelled to Maryborough to compete in the annual Energy Breakthrough Challenge racing Push Carts and Human Powered Vehicles.
The students have put in a tremendous amount of work throughout the year and performed brilliantly last week which resulted in our most successful year JP racing has ever had.
Our 3 push cart teams dominated the field in all aspects of the program to come away winning all 5 awards and finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd out of 16 teams.
Team Lightning McQueen posted some excellent race times and the 3rd best presentation score to finish 3rd overall.
Team Cyclone had the fastest race times for the Obstacle course and sprint event, and the second fastest endurance time throughout the week. They also scored the 3rd highest Design and construction score to finish 2nd overall.
Team Magic may not have been the fastest on the track but they received the highest Design and construction score and also the highest Presentation score which boosted them to first place overall.
To finish top 3 overall and to win all 5 awards was an amazing achievement by the three teams. Congratulations on all your hard work.
Our 3 HPV teams had fantastic trials against 63 other teams. The kids pulled together as teams and organised themselves into their own riding orders, with an understanding that not everyone will ride for the same amount of time. One of the greatest things I see during these races is the team work and encouragement each member shows to one another. Assisting with rider preparation, Helping students recover after a stint, the high 5’s, the friendly competition between riders, the encouragement from the pits as they ride past is one of the greatest rewards I get from this program. The students pushed hard for the 14 hour race in really hot conditions.
Each team experienced their own complications during the race, whether it was mechanical issues or return to pit stickers, but every student pushed hard during the race to achieve some fantastic results.
Team Shazzam completed 257 laps of the 1.58km track with a total distance of 406Km with an average speed of 31kph. The finished 18th in the race but was boosted to 16th after their presentation and design scores were added.
Team Vanquish completed 271 laps with a total distance of 428 kms to finish 10th in the race. During this term they put a lot of effort into their knowledge of the program and it paid off with the second highest presentation score. This see them sky rocket to 4th place overall.
Team Raptor were outstanding in the trial, with only 7 riders, each students was required to ride slightly longer than normal (Some longer than others). I wish to make special mention of 1 rider and their Friday morning stint, as there haven’t been to many occasions where this has happened. This student completed 1 ½ hours straight completing 40 laps (63.2kms). His average lap time was 2:18 with a speed speed of 40.2kph. He rode the teams fastest lap which came in Lap 30 of this stint (2:06). Congratulations to Oscar D for this outstanding ride!!!! But it was the combined effort of all members of the team which resulted in their success.
They finished 3rd in the race, completing 295 laps with a total distance of 462 Kms. This is the highest travelled distance by any team in our 17 year history. With their added Presentation scores they moved up to second place overall which is our best HPV result ever.
To have all 3 teams finish in the top 20 out of 63 competing schools in our category is a fantastic achievement.
This year would not have been possible without our very generous sponsors.
They have contributed to the program in many ways, which has enabled us to be one of the largest competing schools each year.
This year we have been able to
Purchase a new fairing for one of our HPV’s.
Upgrade components on our HPV’s and Pushcarts.
Purchase additional safety equipment.
Upgrade camping equipment.
Apply add ons to our team uniforms at no extra cost.
Upgrade wheels and tires for all 6 vehicles
We are truly grateful for our sponsors, who assist us to provide this amazing experience for your children.
For our sponsors who are here, I would like them to come up and receive a certificate of appreciation from the students
Our 4 Major Sponsors
Cristine Jones – Ray White Ferntree Gully
And our other contributing sponsors
Maxed Small Goods
Thank you to all the parents and teachers who have helped out this year to make this the most successful year of JP Racing ever.
Scott Zachariassen, Darren Jenkins, Mitch Veitch and Emma Bower
JP Racing Coordinator & JP Coaches
Student Reflection
On Tuesday 19th November, 54 of the level 6 students from Jells Park Primary School went to Maryborough to compete in the Energy Breakthrough Challenge. We had two main events, pushcarts and HPV’s (Human Powered Vehicles).
When everyone arrived, we got straight into setting up tents for everyone. We were camped in the middle of one of the ovals in the central area of the race grounds.
The camping was so much fun! Everyone enjoyed it. Every night after dinner there was often a game of cards or some kids kicking a ball. The temperature plummeted at night which was a relief compared to the scorching hot days
The cheering was amazing, everyone that was part of Jells Park Primary School was cheering everyone on during race time and the practise races. This was one of the keys to our success: cheering kept us motivated when we were in the hpv or pushcart.
This year was one of the hottest years for the Energy Breakthrough with 35 degree heat on Tuesday and Friday was even worse at 37 degrees but we were resilient and pushed through with some kids riding for up to an hour
Then on Tuesday 26th November, the teachers, students and families involved in HPV all went to Mulgrave Country Club for a celebration of the year. It was lots of fun to remember all the great and successful races and events we’d had all year, particularly Maryborough.
The pushcart teams did incredibly well with a clean sweep, winning every event! ‘Magic’ finished first, ‘Cyclone’ came second and ‘Lightning McQueen’ came third.
Over on the HPV track we had Raptor finish second overall which is the best result Jells has ever had! Vanquish came in fourth and Shazam came 16th.
It was an incredible experience for everyone involved and was the most successful placing-year overall that JPPS has ever had!
Thank you so much to Mr Zach, Mr Jenkins, Mr Veitch & Miss Bower for making the JP Racing program and an amazing week at Maryborough possible. We will remember it forever!
Oscar D & Tommy H (6P)