Nova Racers win Best Portfolio Prize at the national finals
The story
29 June 2026
Maplewood’s STEM Racing teams, Nova Racers and VFR, represented the school at the 2026 UAE National Finals, and Nova Racers came home with the Best Portfolio Prize in the Professional Category, recognising them as the Best Enterprise Team in the competition.
- Competition
- Formula Ethara National Finals 2026
- Award
- Best Portfolio Prize, Professional Category
- Teams
- Nova Racers and VFR
What is STEM Racing?
STEM Racing, formerly known as F1 in Schools, challenges teams of students to design, manufacture and race a miniature car, and to run their project like a real racing team, with a budget, sponsors, a brand and a portfolio that tells the story of their work.
Teams are judged on engineering, design, enterprise and presentation as well as on the track, so every member of the team has a part to play.
Best Portfolio, Best Enterprise Team
The portfolio is where a team shows how it works: its research, design decisions, testing, marketing and business planning. The Best Portfolio Prize in the Professional Category, and with it recognition as the Best Enterprise Team, is national recognition of the way Nova Racers planned and ran their project.
Our teams at the finals
Both Nova Racers and VFR were presented with Engineers of the Future certificates at the finals. We are incredibly proud of their effort: their hard work, creativity and teamwork truly stood out.
The road to the finals
In April 2026, two Maplewood teams qualified for the 2026 STEAM Racing National Finals in Abu Dhabi: Team Barq in the Development Category and Team Marvayn Racing in the Professional Category.
Congratulations to every student who took part. They are indeed engineers of the future.
