Solar Team Twente keeps sights set on leading teams
Teams prepare for bad weather
The weather may soon be taking a turn for the worse in the World Solar Challenge. Solar Team Twente, who reinforced their third place today by increasing the lead on Stanford University, expect to profit from this atmospheric turn of events. The team crossed the border from the Northern Territory into Southern Australia today. Because The RED Engine did not stop at a control post at 5PM, the team will spend the night in tents in the Outback.
After three days of racing, Solar Team Twente is firmly in third place, as the weather seems to be getting windier and cloudier. The team have prepared for this, as racing leader Jelle Wagenvoort states: “Because of our car’s shape, we expect to be hindered less by sidewinds”.
Racing report
The RED Engine left the control post at Ti Tree this morning at 8:17AM, about 30 minutes ahead of team Stanford in fourth place. At about 10:30AM, The RED Engine reached the control post in Alice Springs, the second largest settlement in the Northern Territory. Here it turned out that Solar Team Twente has increased their lead on Stanford to 36 minutes, while it was about an hour behind the team in pole position. The ride to the next control post in Kulgera was relatively short, but the team managed to add another four minutes to their lead on the number 4, who arrived 40 minutes later. After leaving the control post in Kulgera, The RED Engine drove another 181 kilometres in 2 hours before stopping to set up camp on the roadside in Southern Australia.
Outback
Today was the first day on which Solar Team Twente did not set up camp at a control post. Because of this, the team will have to camp in the Australian Outback, a vast and mostly empty area in the middle of the continent. The team will set up four large tents and a couple of small ones to protect the car and the team members against the elements. Racing driver Cindy Clevers states: “Here in the Outback, it is completely deserted. There is absolutely nothing, except for a couple of thousands of flies…”
Information on Solar Team Twente
Solar Team Twente is a team of students from the University of Twente and the Saxion University of Applied Science, who participate biannually in the World Solar Challenge. To this end, they design and build their own solar cars. The World Solar Challenge will take place this year between October 6th and October 13th.
Redaction note: for questions, more information or interview requests, the contact information is (0031) 6 2320 8717 or k.j.kloppenburg@albersdevries.nl
