The qualifying round for second edition of the Red Bull Racing Can took place at Jai Hind College on Saturday. Team Flying Piston comprising Rhett Rego and Daniel D’Souza from St Andrews College in Bandra won the competition using their NASCAR inspired creation.
Organised by the energy drink major around the world, the competition sees participants build and race radio controlled cars entirely from Red Bull cans. While Red Bull provides the chassis and the electric motor, the participants have to use a combination of skill, creativity and science to churn the bodies. Mooted as a platform for the students to display their skills, there were designs inspired from Formula one, movies, science fiction, dirt racing, NASCAR and touring cars.
The mini racers were judged by Nithal Kothari, voted by the students of Jai Hind College as their coolest teacher and celebrity tattoo artist, sculptor and painter- Al Alva. The judges said they selected the entries based on creativity, construction and race performance.
Speaking on their victory, Rhett said that their car was very close to what he and Daniel had imagined. He said that they added only a rear-wing for down force and raised the ride height to prevent the body work from scraping along the track.
Winning the city finals, Flying Pistons will now go against winners from Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, for the title of India’s Red Bull Racing Can Champion and go on to participate against 24 other nations at the Red Bull Racing Can World Finals in Brazil.
