But it’s not fast enough according to five talented Dubbo Christian School students who are hard at work creating a prototype capable of beating the Australian record of 0.985 seconds.

Powered by a CO2 cartridge the miniature car carved out of balsa wood has been designed, manufactured and raced by Year 12 students Micah Walker, Aaron Rootes, Ben Turner, Sarah McLean and Brianna Turrell.

The intelligent bunch has been selected to compete in the National F1 in Schools competition in Sydney on March15 after progressing through a series of regional and state finals.

The group believes they have what it takes to beat the national record.

“If we win we at nationals we compete in Dubai in September at the world championships,” team leader Brianna Turrell said.

“You have got to be in it to win it and we have a really good chance.”

The F1 in Schools challenge is multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary, inspiring students to collaborate with industry partners to learn about engineering principles like physics, aerodynamics, design, manufacture, teamwork, media skills and project management.

Micah Walker is the team’s engineer and dreams of having a career in mechatronics.

The experience he’s gained using a multi million dollar design program supplied by the events organisers gives him the opportunity to gain a head start in an industry he can’t wait to launch into.

“We have a tele-conference call with the head of military aviation to ask all sort of questions about aerodynamics that we can apply to our design,” Mr Walker said. The team’s graphic designer is Aaron Rootes. Ben Turner, the team’s manufacturer helped build the racing car.

Resource manager Sarah McLean is in charge of marketing and Brianna Turrell co-ordinates the team.

“We put together a radio advertisement and recorded it and I organised the teams uniform,” Miss McLean said.

“I’m interested in fitting and turning and building bridges in the future ... I have learnt a lot about collaboration with industry,” Mr Turner said.

“Being a part of the event has opened up so many opportunities for me as I want to be a graphic designer when I finish school,” Mr Rootes said.

The competition was introduced in the UK in 1999 and has been implemented in 20 countries around the world including the Middle East and Africa.

The competition’s aim was, and still is, to introduce younger people to engineering in a more fun environment.

“It gives the students the chance to build team skills, meet with professionals and engage with industry,” Doug Simpson Head of Technical and Applied Studies said.

“The students have a very good chance of winning at nationals.”