2000 kids race in billycart showdown

Eastern Creek Raceway will come alive today with more than 2200 students to race self-designed and self-built billycarts as part of a joint initiative between NRMA and the Department of Education and Training.

NRMA Director Gary Punch said students from 50 NSW primary and secondary schools would race billycarts in a series of obstacle, sprint and endurance tests to teach young children about road safety, vehicle technology and the environment.

"This is the third NRMA Kids Design Challenge TechnoPush to be held and the response from schools this year has been amazing with a record number of students taking part," Mr Punch said.

"Schools are enthusiastic about the educational value of the day, which brings the classroom into the real world.

"The whole community gets involved with students, teachers, parents, local industry and other groups working together to build the safest, speediest and most creative billycarts."

NRMA Group CEO Tony Stuart said students build a billycart from scratch and have a blast racing their billycarts while learning about teamwork and vehicle safety.

"The atmosphere at Eastern Creek raceway is electric with schools screaming support for their teams - it's a great day," Mr Stuart said.

"Kids have taken away what they learnt last year and will come back with more improved designs - billycarts range from wildly inventive to simply ingenious.

"Today is part of the NRMA's aim to ensure basic road safety concepts are learned from an early age. We want the drivers of tomorrow to stay safe."

A range of awards will be presented at the end of the day in the following categories:

• Road Safety Aspect
• Overall Performance
• Environmental Champions
• Team Spirit and Identity
• Scientific Investigation
• Design Process and Engineering and Design Excellence.