Last weekend the Damascus College Sustainable Racing Team (SRT) competed in our 23rd Energy Breakthrough event in Maryborough.

This is a very challenging 24-hour event, which was built on by the extremes of weather, 38 degrees on Friday, dust storms, then 10 hours of drizzle, all while the group camped in the open, but rest assured, this was not enough to dampen the spirts of the 23 strong student team or our marvellous volunteers.

Damascus entered three teams, two hybrid pedal-electric and one pure electric vehicle, that were all completely designed and built by the Damascus SRT community.

Throughout the event the team were outstanding in the way they managed complex tasks including setting up pits, fixing trikes, preparing delicious meals, managing the campsite and meeting all of the requirements of the event management.

2024 Results:

• Senior Hybrid (Cheezy Dibbles): 559 kms, overall Hybrid runner up and Display and Presentation category winner

• Junior Hybrid (B2B): 681 kms 3rd in class

• All electric (Bumble Bee 6): 725 kms

Special thanks to the many staff, parents, volunteers, and sponsors that helped to make this experience such a success. It will be one that the students will hold dear for many years to come.

Thanks to sponsors Bikes on Latrobe, Peaches Fruit Market, Wilsons Fruit, Sinclair Meats, Bendigo Bank, R & J Batteries, Peter Reid, Peter Leighton, and Oliver Christenson.

SRT Captains and Year 10 students Issy Fensling, Lachlan Reus, and Thomas McDonald, shared their experience at this 24-hour event in Maryborough.

Issy mentioned that she really enjoyed being the captain of the B2B trike, where she loved helping and encouraging fellow team members to achieve their best throughout the race. Throughout her time in the SRT program, Issy has loved spending time with this special community of like-minded people and has particularly enjoyed learning new things and then teaching them to others.

Lachlan shared that the biggest challenge in building the Cheezy Dibbles trike, was the amount of time needed to develop the carbon fibre shells that had to be laid out over a mould, which was very time consuming, but really satisfying at the same time. His favourite memory of the event was planning a fun farewell for Year 12 student Lucas Wells, where students took much glee in dumping 10 litres of water on him, to celebrate the end of the ride, and the end of his time in the SRT program, as he graduates from Damascus this year.

Thomas loves being a part of SRT, this year he particularly enjoyed participating in the Sandown and test and tune days, where students got to interact with different teams to learn new things to assist them in building the trikes. He enjoys working as part of the team helping each other out and working together to further develop the trike.

Issy particularly wanted to thank the Year 12 students Lucas Wells, Matt Hanrahan, Campbell White and Harrison Kenneth, for their unwavering leadership, support, and guidance to the younger students has helped them immensely and made the team a joy to be a part of. A special shout out to Lucas and Matt as they have been a part of the program since they were in Year 7 and are incredibly passionate young people.

Damascus College and the SRT students wish to especially thank SRT Coordinator Alan Strange, for his tireless commitment to this program, and the newest staff recruit Danielle Nyikos for the support and energy shown in the later part of this year for all things SRT. This program positively impacts the lives of numerous Damascus students and families, and the guidance, passion, enthusiasm and sheer dedication of Alan, and more recently Danielle is truly commendable.

SRT Captains and Year 10 students Issy Fensling, Lachlan Reus, and Thomas McDonald, shared their experience at this 24-hour event in Maryborough.

Issy mentioned that she really enjoyed being the captain of the B2B trike, where she loved helping and encouraging fellow team members to achieve their best throughout the race. Throughout her time in the SRT program, Issy has loved spending time with this special community of like-minded people and has particularly enjoyed learning new things and then teaching them to others.

Lachlan shared that the biggest challenge in building the Cheezy Dibbles trike, was the amount of time needed to develop the carbon fibre shells that had to be laid out over a mould, which was very time consuming, but really satisfying at the same time. His favourite memory of the event was planning a fun farewell for Year 12 student Lucas Wells, where students took much glee in dumping 10 litres of water on him, to celebrate the end of the ride, and the end of his time in the SRT program, as he graduates from Damascus this year.

Thomas loves being a part of SRT, this year he particularly enjoyed participating in the Sandown and test and tune days, where students got to interact with different teams to learn new things to assist them in building the trikes. He enjoys working as part of the team helping each other out and working together to further develop the trike.

Issy particularly wanted to thank the Year 12 students Lucas Wells, Matt Hanrahan, Campbell White and Harrison Kenneth, for their unwavering leadership, support, and guidance to the younger students has helped them immensely and made the team a joy to be a part of. A special shout out to Lucas and Matt as they have been a part of the program since they were in Year 7 and are incredibly passionate young people.

Damascus College and the SRT students wish to especially thank SRT Coordinator Alan Strange, for his tireless commitment to this program, and the newest staff recruit Danielle Nyikos for the support and energy shown in the later part of this year for all things SRT. This program positively impacts the lives of numerous Damascus students and families, and the guidance, passion, enthusiasm and sheer dedication of Alan is truly commendable.

Well done to all involved.