There may be a track, enthusiastic spectators and the odd dramatic collision, but this grand prix is no ordinary race.
There's not a drop of petrol in sight and the cars are pint-sized.
Students from 20 schools across the state descended on Gladstone to race their hydrogen-powered model cars that they had been working on for half a year.
Keith Narvas, 16, said the Australian first-of-its kind grand prix was a step towards a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for her and her all-girl team.
"I think as women in the industry, it's a really good opportunity for us," Keith said.
"I'd love to be an engineer in chemical engineering or electrical engineering."
Students were sent kits with all the electronic, structural and fuel components to build their hydrogen fuel cell cars in September.
After building a basic model, they had free rein to tweak it.
Keith's team, from Gladstone State High School, spent every Thursday afternoon for the past six months designing, building and testing their vehicle.
Immersive program to prepare
CQUniversity representative Luke Sinclair said the focus of the race and school-based education program was to encourage students to pursue careers in STEM.
"It's not a flash in the pan, where the kids just get an opportunity for a couple of days," Mr Sinclair said.
"It's six months, where they really get to dig deep into this.
"They can 3D print their own chassis, they can start to play around with the car body and things like that to try and get it more efficient."
That had been the case for Billy Dalzell and his team, who travelled from Logan to central Queensland for the event.
The 14-year-old said his team had modified almost every part of their car to boost on-track performance.
Billy said replacing the hydrogen cells, which recharged the car's battery was the biggest challenge.
"[The hydrogen] leaks as we put it in, so we've had to come up with strategies around that," he said.
"We've got it pretty much nailed."
Winners crowned
Faith and Furious from the Faith Baptist Christian School in Gladstone took out the competition with 550 laps, 22 more than second place.
"[Going into this] I didn't even know hydrogen could be used to charge an electric battery but it can and hopefully that is what we see in the future," team captain and driver, Kaleb Galea, said.
As winners, they will travel to Las Vegas in September to compete in the international final.
They'll be racing against 35 teams from about 20 countries – the biggest event to date, according to Horizon Educational chief executive Kamil Jelinek.
Mr Jelinek said expanding the education program from its "very strong" base in Europe and the US was daunting at first.
But he said bringing the grand prix to Gladstone was a "great match" given the ambition to transform it into a hydrogen manufacturing hub.
"We see a lot of enthusiasm from the kids, they are brilliant," Mr Jelinek said.
"I would say this is the best start ever in terms of a first year program."
Mr Sinclair said the grand prix showcased not only future workers in the industry, but "some of the future leaders".
"We need to think not just two or three years down the track, we've got to think five, 10, 15, 20 years down the track," he said.
"It's events and activities like this that we need to do more of and more of in the regions as well because that's where our skills are going to come from."
