the racing divas look for further success.

DUBAI Bubbly and chirpy, these girls are full of life. Calling themselves as The Racing Divas, the seven girls from the Jumeirah English Speaking School, Jumeirah, are excited about competing in the F1 in Schools national championships to be held from May 6-7.

Preparations are in full swing for the all-girls team (Sophie Ingram, Abi Lomas, Megan Kofteros, Jossie Padgett, Zara Morrison, Alannah McKevitt and Alice Jordan) who emerged clear winners in the JESS finals where four school teams participated. "The girls won hands down," said Rick McIntyre, one of the teachers, who are overseeing the team.

Over 200 students from around 34 schools in the UAE will compete in the national championships at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. "It's really exciting and we are very happy. This is the first time we are going to be at the F1 in Schools," said Sophie, who is the team manager.

"In the final, our car wasn't the fastest but we had the best reaction time which probably helped us a lot," Sophie added.

Not a sport that is usually liked by girls, The Racing Divas have been very impressive outsmarting the other teams consisting mainly of boys. "We like doing different things and not just the girls' stuff," said Alannah, who is one of the design engineers with the other being Megan. "In the F1 club we were the only girls and we didn't want to tag with the boys but do it all by ourselves," Megan added.

The initial process was a tiring one and the girls sweated it out to put things together. "We had to send our team and then decide on the name and slogan. We then had to decide on the team jobs and send letters to get possible sponsors.

Abi, the resource manager, added: "We then got our car painted and then chose the colour scheme and logos. It took a real long time, approximately eight weeks, for us to finalise the design of the car."

That meant they had to maintain a perfect balance by not disturbing their studies. "Some of the people in our school have been very supportive. We had to even skip a few classes and our teachers agreed that since we needed more time to be able to represent JESS Jumeirah well in Abu Dhabi," Sophie said.

The team also decided not to tamper with the car considering its performance in the in-house event. "We decided not to change the car. If it was good enough to win the JESS finals, it is good enough to win in Abu Dhabi," said McIntyre adding that the girls were doing well because of their commitment towards their job. "This team are an organised bunch. They have a great team with good leadership qualities. It really has given them an understanding of how to deal with money and things they need to achieve by managing themselves," said McIntyre.

Their slogan reads aeAlways fastaAlways first', apt for a team committed to excel and be the best.

factfile

Team: The Racing Divas

Members:

Team Manager: Sophie Ingram

Resource Manager: Abi Lomas

Manufacturing Engineer: Zara Morrison

Graphic Designers: Alice Jordan and Jossie Padgett

Design Engineers: Megan Kofteros and Alannah McKevitt

Teachers: Rick McIntrye and Colin Thomson

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