All-girl team gears up for ‘F1 in Schools’ contest
Six students from Dwight School Dubai to build and race miniature F1 car in global challenge
In a first for the UAE, an all-girl team from Dwight School Dubai is gearing up to compete in the global ‘F1 in Schools’ challenge.
The Grade 9 students — Stella Langenbach, Romy Wegmann, Amber-Rose McCauley, Sofia Langthjem, Leila TaylorDamouni and Chiara Pistilli — have been tasked with building and racing a miniature F1 car of the future.
The team named Ultraviolet Racing has secured Al Tayer Motors, the official Maserati import-dealer in the UAE, as a sponsor. It will also be guided by Rayyah Fathalla, director of the Centre of Excellence for Arabic Language Culture and The Arts, who is also a member of the first all-female GCC Karting team.
With the help of Dwight School Dubai’s Spark Tank, Ultraviolet Racing will compete against 20 million students from over 40 countries in the 2019 series.
To raise awareness about the challenge, Ultraviolet Racing hosted the Dwight School Festival of Speed on December 8 at the Dubai Autodrome. Children aged seven and older participated.
Spectators and drivers were also invited to visit Dwight School Dubai, where activities included a chance to take photos in a Maserati car and a racing movie.
Leila, 13, said: “Entering the F1 in Schools challenge as an all-girls team was an important decision for us. In a maledominated industry, we want to inspire and empower other girls to take part in engineering and motorsports. We are excited for the challenge and have enjoyed the experience so far.” Jad Elias, vice-president of sales — Maserati, Al Tayer Motors, said: “We were quite impressed with Ultraviolet Racing’s game-plan for the F1 in Schools challenge and are pleased to support this courageous all-girls team. We wish them all success in the competition.”
Janecke Aarnaes, head of school for Dwight School Dubai, said: “The students have been inspired to build upon their learning of science, technology, engineering and maths to compete in the challenge and have already impressed our community with their innovative thinking.”