JACOB Willard may not be Tasmania's fastest teacher on two wheels - he races a 150cc Honda with a top speed of about 160kmh - but he is one of most passionate.
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And the St Patrick's College science and maths teacher said that his students were only too happy to learn the theory of what he puts into practice on the race track.
"I got into racing through the late, great Dicky Leslie about two years ago," he said.
"He lent me his bikes for about a year and eventually I bought one and built it up for racing."
Mr Willard said that he had introduced bike-related subjects into his mathematics class.
"I can't take a race bike in and do acceleration and braking demonstrations, but I specialise in developmental maths and some of the problems I set were directly related to racing," he said.
"We did a lot of work on power-to-weight ratios seeing what advantage loss of weight and a rise in power had, mathematically.
"And in the chemistry class, I showed the class the piston out of my little road scooter and explained how the explosion on the tiny piston crown was enough to propel me up Westbury Road at 50kmh.
"The kids like being able to see a practical example of what they're studying."
Mr Willard said that the job of teachers was to bring whatever passion they had into the classroom.
On the track, Mr Willard's passion, and development on the bike, sees him regularly finish in the top three or four.
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