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School Series electric kit car competition
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Each team is given five weeks to build their cars. Though they have different paint jobs, each car is almost identically set up. When completed, they look like futuristic soap box derby cars.
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The top three teams in the School Series race got to celebrate on the same podium as the Formula E drivers.
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This race wasn't just for fun — the winning team was awarded $5,000 for their school's tech club. Second place took home $2,500, and third place received $1,500.
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Each driver was instructed to keep a safe distance from the others, an order that many discarded after the first lap.
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The School Series race in Miami was held on the same 1.3-mile course that the Formula E cars used. The teams had to find their own places to practice with the kit cars; one used their school's bus garage, another used a running track.
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A driver attacks the straightaway constructed on Miami's Biscayne Boulevard. The cars reached top speeds of over 30mph.
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Drivers race through the 90-degree turns underneath the 395 overpass.
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On some of the sloped sections in Miami, the cars hit speeds of over 40mph.
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A student takes a final look at the course map before strapping in for the race.
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The School Series "paddock" was nothing more than a tent, but by the end of the day it was full of fans of all ages looking for a photo with the drivers — and the cars.
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One of the teams takes a break from the heat. Construction of the track was still being finished on race day, so the School Series teams had a lot of waiting around to do.
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Teams were making last minute adjustments right up until the moment they had to line the cars up on the tracks.
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The drivers were equipped with an essential tool for first-timers on the track: mirrors.
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The tires used in the school series, like the ones used by Formula E, were supplied by Michelin. The cars had to be set up according to certain specifications, but the teams were allowed to use different tire pressures.
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Students had to wear safety helmets, fire suits, and strap into five-point safety harnesses just like the pilots of Formula E.
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A reporter from WLPG 10 in Miami interviews one of the competitors. The School Series paddock drew more and more attention throughout the day, especially since fans didn't have access to where the Formula E cars were parked.
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The eight-student team from Englewood wasn't originally supposed to be in the race. One of the schools dropped out less than four weeks before the race, so the technology student association at Englewood High School got the call instead. When they opened up the boxes, everything was in disarray — the steering rod was bent and parts were missing. The students laughed it off. "It builds character," one said.
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A track official familiarizes students with the rules at a track safety meeting before qualifying.
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Not everyone completed the race. This unlucky driver got squeezed into the wall early on and had to coast to a stop.
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Family members and fans watch the School Series race on a giant screen hung from the facade of the American Airlines Arena.
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One of the competitors watches a Formula E car zip by on the track.
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The series' directors even have access to the live timing technology that was set up around the track.
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There are no pedals in the School Series kit cars — just a throttle button and a handbrake.
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Members of the team from Englewood High School in Englewood, Florida, scrawled a simple reminder on the dashboard: "Don't use brakes."
