Pedal Prix, Tailem Bend – May 2024

Over the weekend of 18 and 19 May, our Norwood International Pedal Prix Racing Team took part in Round 2 of the UniSA Australian HPV Super Series at the Shell V Power Motorsport Park, aka The Bend. The 6-hour event saw 175 teams from more than 70 schools and community groups get the green light at 10:00am on Saturday.

In cool but spectacular racing conditions it was clear our riders had shown up and were keen to implement their training and preparations into the racing environment. With our school fielding 7 teams across year 7 to year 12 an exciting day was ahead. Fast racing conditions throughout the day saw our teams embody the concept of smooth is fast and fast is fun.

Over the 6 hours, our 50+ students performed exceptionally on and off the 2.83km track. It was a pleasure to see each team and their parent/staff team managers come together to support, encourage and push each other. An overview of our results is below.

Year 7 Boys – Team Rampage – 57 laps – 160km +
2nd in Category C4 and 126th overall
Fastest lap – 4.44.89 = 37km/h
Team Members: Albert, Austin, Chase, Hugo, Kabir, Ruben, Thomas
Team Manager: John Mc and Kawindu

Year 7 to 9 Girls – Enigma – 68 laps – 195km +
1st in Category S2F, 13th in S2, 94th overall
Fastest lap – 4.11.54 = 40.5 km/h
Team Members: Annabel, Ava, Grace S, Imogen, Serena, Violet
Team Manager: Kimberly O’Brien

Year 9 Boys – Team Astro – 88 laps – 252km +
2nd in Category S2, 35th overall
Fastest lap – 3.32.3 = 48km/h
Team Members: Thomas B, Connor, Kye, Leo, Jackson, Hyun-Woo, Jack
Team Managers: Matt Brinkley, Danar Witford, Nicole Johnston

Year 9-11 Boys – Team Protege – 75 laps – 215km +
21st in Category S3, 69th overall
Fastest lap – 3.52.43 = 43.83 km/h
Team Members: Daniel B, Daniel S, Kobe, Henry, Owen, Tom R, Yazd, Lachlan
Team Manager: Ben Cox, Simon Clarke

Year 10-11 Boys – Team Focus – 92 laps – 264km+
4th in Category S3, 21st overall
Fastest lap – 3.29 = 48.7 km/h
Team Members: Chase, Connor D, Noah, Digby, Isaac, Luca, Nickolas
Team Manager: Phil Duncan, Mick Hopton

Senior Girls – Spurls – 78 laps – 223km+
1st in Category S3F, 18th in S3 and 59th overall
Fastest Lap – 3.52.4 = 43.8 km/h (fastest in category)
Team Members: Erika, Tamara, Willow, Grace K, Ashlin, Julissa, Jessica
Team Manager: Jo Hess

Year 12 Boys – Team XP8 – 97 laps – 278km+
2nd in Category S3, 14th overall
Fastest Lap – 3.14.3 = 52km/h
Team Members: Juan, Thomas W, Oliver, Riccardo, Hyunbi, Rayhan, Remy
Team Managers: Troy Flower, David Watts

An awesome first outing for the year for NIHS Pedal Prix, the community came together brilliantly to support and coordinate our teams. A big thank you to our parent marshals (Mick, Sara, Adam, Nicole, Hilary and Mithun), to our team managers and our NIHS staff who supported or visited throughout the day.

We are onto training over the next three Saturdays, before the Festival of Pedal Prix at Victoria Park from 14 to 16 June.

Ben O’Connell
Pedal Prix Manager