Dutch domination: 2013 WSC wrap
It was a Dutch day out at the 2013 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge as the Aussie contenders held their heads highAs the dust settled on the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge for another two years, the 2013 race will be remembered as one of the most gruelling in the event's 27-year history, and one where the Dutch dominated, taking two out of three class wins.
The event bore witness to extreme conditions that saw temperatures rise above 40 degrees, cars blown off the road, catch fire, lose wheels and frequently struggle with the unforgiving and unpredictable Australian outback.
Although the Dutch team Nuon claimed victory by defeating two-time defending champions Tokai of Japan in the premier Challenger Class, and Solar Team Eindhoven won the Cruiser Class with the world's first four-seater solar car, Australia's Aurora Vehicle Association won the Adventure Class.
The UNSW Solar Racing Team's Sunswift car was fastest in the Cruiser Class, first to cross the finish line in Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide. However UNSW had to settle for third spot on the podium, as Solar Team Eindhoven and Germany's Hochschule Bochum took first and second based on 'real world' judging criteria such as cargo and passenger space, design, practicality and efficiency.
The event started eventfully in Darwin, as Japanese favourites Tokai spun their car in qualifying, twice, relegating them to 20th place on the grid, as Australian Team Arrow managed pole position on debut.
"The amazing thing for us is that we started this group 12 months ago from scratch with no money, and we're chuffed, it's an amazing result," said Cameron Tuesley, Team Arrow manager, after qualifying at Hidden Valley raceway in Darwin.
Ultimately Team Arrow finished seventh in the premier 'Challenger' class, a sterling effort for the team which wasn't completely confident of making it to Adelaide in one piece.
Some of the challenges teams encountered during the race included being blown off the road by 80km/h gale-force winds. The University of Michigan's solar car was damaged after leaving the road Coober Pedy due to the intense wind gusts, relegating it to ninth place overall after maintaining fifth place for most of the race.
Goko high school's Kaito 11 solar car (Cruiser Class) also had a dramatic turn, its rear wheels falling off while in motion, leaving a trail of sparks and debris behind as it coasted to a stop not far from Alice Springs.
The Istanbul Technical University team also ran into trouble, the Turkish team's support vehicle catching fire under the intense 40 degree sun, rendering it inoperable. No one was hurt in any of the incidents.
Held in Australia, the objective of the Bridgestone World solar Challenge is simple -- build a solar car, then drive it from Darwin to Adelaide, roughly 3000 kilometres.
The tricky part is in the execution, as many of the 38 teams discovered.
Some of the cars weigh less than a motorcycle at just 165kg, most are made from carbon-fibre and all of them have rudimentary controls, useless turning circles and no air-conditioning, just tiny ventilation slits.
The latter were introduced after a driver allegedly died from heat exhaustion in the 1990s.
Suffice to say, this world-famous zero emission road rally is no cake walk.
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