Jack O’Toole, Daniel Reed and Jason Streat distinguished themselves at the University of New South Wales’ Sunsprint solar car race, where they won the section for first-time entrants with a car that rivalled the speed of the winning cars in the open category.

The team’s time earned them a place at the Australian International Model Solar Car Championships in Hobart, a distinction not usually awarded to novice entrants.

The students spent two months building their car after school and during lunch breaks, and have made only minor modifications since the Sydney competition.

Teacher Peg Baker said the team would confront new challenges at the championships, facing up against large private schools with cars worth thousands of dollars, often supported by a school engineering workshop.

“I’m not an engineer, I’m only a science teacher, but we do all right,” Ms Baker said.

Competing against the larger schools, St Matthew’s will also be handicapped by the fact that novice entrants were limited to constructing their cars from balsa wood, while their competitors will have used materials such as fibreglass.

Ms Baker said the solar car challenge was a great hands-on introduction to important scientific concepts.

She said if she lectured on gear ratios for 40 minutes she would expect one student in a class to remember the details by the end, but after building solar cars, each student understood their importance and effects.

St Matthew’s was also invited to build a boat to compete against other solar-powered boats in Hobart, and student Jess Munro will accompany the school’s boat to the competition.

The solar car team has attracted sponsorship from Mudgee Toyota, which paid for their uniforms and parts for the solar car, while Lawrence, Bennett and Portelli has sponsored the boat.

Solar team

Six Mudgee High School students will travel to Mt Panorama for the High Schools Solar Car Challenge this Friday.

Travis Potts, Anthony Cooke, Alex Farrugia, Peter Heath, Michael Mangano and Adam Jewell believe they have a strong chance to take first place with their car, an improved version of the Mudgee High School car that won last year’s competition.

Since week one of term four, the team has been working to make the car lighter, faster and more efficient.