PALMETTO, Fla. -- Manatee County engineering students are heading half-way around the globe for the Formula One In Schools model car racing championship.
The team is leaving for Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to represent the United States in the world championship, where they will compete against 55 teams from 23 nations.
The race car they built and design is powered by CO2 and must go 20 meters in one second.
But there’s a lot more to it than just the race.
Students must create a business model to market, brand, get sponsors, build portfolios and give presentations. They will be judged on the success of their team on all of these projects.
"It’s been amazing. The whole journey, the process, has allowed me to learn a lot about myself. Which is pretty critical because I’m going to be entering the real world and college sometime soon and I feel like that’s been the biggest takeaway from my part over the past year," said Hunter Raley, Palmetto High School Junior.
The Manatee County team named “Pinnacle” won the national “Formula One In Schools” competition earlier this year in Texas.
