TEENAGE engineers outclassed the opposition to win the Rotary Club Technology Tournament becoming the first students to win for the third year running.
The team of Year 11s from Haslingden High School solved a tricky task at Nelson and Colne College to win their age group.
Just as 16-year olds Leon Barker-Williams and Lewis Simpson along with Lauren Sumner and Jacob Cowan, both 15, did in Year 10 and in Year 9.
They had to build a vehicle to run along the inside of a cut drainpipe. It had to shunt blocks out of the pipe and then reverse back to the start.
Leon said: “We had a motor and had to create a switch and also a chassis for the vehicle and then it had to move the 10 blocks of wood.”
Lewis said: “It was one of the easier tasks that we had been set compared to the previous competitions. It was only once we had made it and we carried our trials that we encountered a few problems.
“The inside of the pipe was slippery and the wheels would not grip so we solved it by putting elastic bands on them.”
Some of the other teams found their vehicles were unreliable while others didn’t manage to finish the task.
Lauren, who enjoys the design side, said: “The tricky bit was making the switch and connections and making sure the vehicle was able to reverse.”
Head of Design Technology Craig Greenwood said: “They have been a winning team for the last three years so I wasn’t going to change the members. It is fantastic achievement to win the trophy three times.”
The school’s Sixth Form team were runners up in the advanced section.
Lewis, Leon and Jacob want to be mechanical engineers and Lauren is hoping for a career in design.