About nine million students across the globe took part in the F1 in Schools competition this year, and a quartet from Mount View High School have made it into the top 300.
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Ben Galvin, Tobias Astill-King, Fei Fei Webster and Harley Patterson will fly out to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to represent Australia at the F1 in Schools world finals, which start on Sunday.
The Mount View students have teamed up with five students from Penrith Christian College to form the team Ascension, after their school teams - Pentessellate and Vectory - placed second and third at the Australian finals in March.
The world finals will be held at Yas Marina Circuit, alongside the season-ending Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Teams of students design, test and manufacture miniature Formula One cars to race at speeds of up to 80 km/h, and are also judged on industry collaboration, leadership, project management, business planning, public speaking, marketing and presentation skills.
The competition concludes with an awards dinner and the chance to meet Formula One drivers and make industry connections.
The winning team receives scholarships to study engineering courses at UCL and City, University of London (which sponsors the competition).
The Mount View students and their supervising teacher Mark Bassett were given a hero's farewell at Tuesday morning's school assembly, with banners and signs sporting messages of good luck.
Former Pentessellate teammates Billie Taylor and Martin Cathcart were acknowledged, along with the team's sponsors, families and the community.
Relieving principal Shane Hookway said it was exciting to see the school continue its prolific success in F1 in Schools competition, which is the biggest STEM competition in the world.
"The students from this school are as good as any in the world - they have the potential to become world champions," he said.
It will be the second time Mount View High has been represented at international level in the competition, after members of its Revolution Racing team combined with a Tasmanian team and secured a wildcard entry in 2017 - and placed 14th overall.
Mount View High has competed in F1 in Schools since 2004, and has competed at national level for the past five years.
"We punch above our weight in this competition; some of the most prestigious schools in Australia take part,"Mr Bassett said.
"Out students put their best foot forward."
The school continued it success rate at the NSW finals earlier this month, with its Impro Racing team placing second in the professional class, and Night Phoenix finishing 10th in the cadet class.
- The world finals will be broadcast via the F1 in Schools Youtube channel.
- Follow Ascension's progress on their Facebook page 'Ascension AUS'.