The Bunbury City Kart Club is gearing up for a unique six-hour race that will see high schools across WA competing to be the top trike team in a sport that combines pedal-powered strength with engineering prowess.
The annual Bunbury Pedal Prix, managed by WA Human Powered Vehicle Association and taking place on June 18, will see the teams of students riding in the marathon event on specialised three-wheeled trikes.
Known as velomobiles or bicycle-cars, the vehicles work similarly to three-wheeled recumbent bicycles, with added features such as an aerodynamic enclosed roof, called a tricycle skeleton.
Club committee member and high school teacher Graham Johnson said the real challenge wasn’t the race but the constant attention to detail needed on the trikes.
“A lot of things can happen to trikes in six hours” he said.
“If they roll over, they spin out, you break a chain, your brake fails, you get a flat tyre. It’s about keeping your tyres on the track for more than six hours,” Mr Johnson said.
The sport has been heralded as a way schools can engage their students in STEM, as the event requires the engineering of the trikes, and their maintenance throughout the race.
“I use it as part of my science club. The kids come in, the kids would build bits and piece on the track to maintain it. They do a whole range of different things” he said.
The sport runs three events, in Perth, Bunbury and Busselton, as well as a 24-hour race in Adelaide.
The organisers hope to one day hold a 24-hour race in Bunbury, as the Go Kart Club has the ideal track, location and facilities to host the gruelling race.