Solar powered race sets off - October 22, 2007
An environmentally friendly version of wacky races has kicked off in Australia, as 38 solar powered cars speed across the continent. The World Solar Challenge set off at the weekend, with teams competing to complete the 3,000 kilometres between Darwin in the north and Adelaide in the south (official website).
The Age reckons the Nuon Solar Team, with three previous wins under its belt, is favorite to win. It also holds the race record – an impressive 29 hours. However at the moment Japan’s Ashiya team is leading, followed by Belgium’s Umicore and Australia’s Aurora (ABC).
There has already been controversy. The University of Michigan is blaming the Stanford Solar Car Team for a crash could have put them out of the race. It’s heartbreaking stuff for Michigan. Before the race the team’s engineering director Alex Curaudeau said, “When the race finally comes, you’re really nervous because you have put an entire two years of your life into this project. It’s like watching your kid grow up; you just want it to succeed.” They do appear to be back up and running now though.
UPDATE – 30/10/07
Apologies for the tardy nature of this update. The winner of the race was indeed the Nuon team.
Michigan finished seventh out of 41 cars after their run in with Stanford (Michigan Daily). Stanford were put out of the race by a tyre blow out which flipped their car. The driver was uninjured (The Stanford Daily).
Image: Getty
Comments
Driving rules for the race, along with the braking requirements for cars, are designed to ensure that solar cars always have enough braking distance between them and their lead vehicles. I don't know the circumstances that caused the Stanford team to stop abruptly, but surely this was not intentional foul play. But for the sake of argument, let's assume the worst. Even if Stanford stopped maliciously, Michigan should have been following proper driving protocol and left enough distance between their lead and their solar car to prevent this sort of mishap. The previous team leader of the Michigan project agrees with this assessment.
I'm very sorry to hear about Michigan's accident. Considering the massive effort and huge investment they have in this car, they certainly deserve a fair chance to run the race. I'm very glad to hear that the driver has gotten away with only trivial injuries. I'm always impressed with the team's ability to recover from disaster. I applaud their fortitude that allowed them to repair their car and start the race anew. I can only hope that the race officials see that they deserve a fresh start and an equal chance to finish the race with the success I'm sure they would have previously attained.
-Sasha Zbrozek
Stanford Solar Car Project
Power systems, control systems, software
PS: My team hasn't sent any information Stateside since the start of the race...
Posted by: Sasha Zbrozek | October 22, 2007 07:17 PM