Repton School Dubai’s Project Hydronova has made history as the first-ever team from the UAE and the Middle East to compete in the H2 Grand Prix World Finals (Stock category)—an international six-hour endurance race for hydrogen-powered RC cars. In their debut year, the students captured the prestigious Energy Award for efficiency and finished solidly in the middle of the global pack, an extraordinary achievement for a first-time team from the region.
The Finals, hosted by Horizon Educational, brought together 40 student teams from Europe, Asia, and North America in a race designed to test engineering skill, energy management, and endurance. Against veteran programs with years of experience, Project Hydronova stood out as a homegrown Dubai team going head-to-head with the world’s best, ultimately returning with one of the Finals’ most respected honours: the Energy Award.
Why This Story Matters
Project Hydronova’s achievement goes far beyond one trophy. It marks the first time the Middle East has ever been represented at this global hydrogen motorsport event, a milestone that puts Dubai on the map of international clean-energy innovation. Their success also highlights the promise of hydrogen technology at a time when sustainable energy solutions are urgently needed worldwide. That the Energy Award—focused on efficiency and conservation—was won by a group of first-year students from the UAE underscores the region’s potential to lead in this space.
As a student-driven, sponsor-backed initiative, the project reflects what can be achieved when youth, education, and industry come together to push boundaries. These students not only built one of the Middle East’s first hydrogen-powered RC race cars but also raised close to AED 45,000 in funding, refined advanced engineering systems, and proved they could match global competition lap for lap. Their story is as much about pioneering resilience as it is about racing.
