Yahoo – AFP,
October 12, 2017
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| This handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 taken and received on October 11, 2017, shows the Nuon Solar Team vehicle "Nuna9" from the Netherlands speeding towards Coober Pedy during the fourth day of racing (AFP Photo/Mark Kolbe) |
Adelaide
(Australia) (AFP) - Dutch team "Nuon" Thursday won an epic
3,000-kilometre (1,860-mile) solar car race across Australia's outback for the
third-straight year, continuing its dominance of an innovative contest
showcasing new vehicle technology.
The World
Solar Challenge, first run in 1987 and last held in 2015, began in the northern
city of Darwin on Sunday morning, with 41 competing cars heading to the final
destination of Adelaide in South Australia.
Cheers and
chants of "Nuna" roared from the large Dutch contingent as the
"Nuna 9" car -- travelling at an average speed of 81.2 kilometres per
hour (55.5 mph) -- crossed the finish line mid-afternoon.
"Welcome
to #Adelaide @NuonSolarTeam, winner of the @bridgestone #BWSC17 Schneider
Electric Challenger Class," race organisers tweeted.
The US'
University of Michigan "Novum" finished just under two hours behind
in second place ahead of Belgium's Punch Powertrain, which completed the race
half an hour later.
The event
has become one of the world’s foremost innovation challenges with teams looking
to demonstrate designs that could one day lead to commercially available
solar-powered vehicles for passengers.
Google co-founder
Larry Page and Tesla co-founder J B Straubel are past competitors who credit
the event in influencing their careers
The win is
the seventh for Nuon, with their car overcoming cloudy skies as they took the
lead early and stayed ahead in the elite Challenger class, which features
slick, single seat aerodynamic vehicles built for sustained endurance and total
energy efficiency.
 |
This
handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 shows team members of Nuon
Solar
Team from the Netherlands preparing their vehicle "Nuna9" to catch the first
morning sun near Dunmarra on the second day of racing (AFP Photo/Mark
Kolbe)
|
The team's
winning time was 37 hours, 10 minutes and 41 seconds. When their team finished
first in 2015, it took them 33.03 hours.
Team
manager Sander Koot said they changed their strategy and driving style to cope
with weather conditions that included wind gusts of up to 60 kmh.
They also
positioned the car so it could benefit from the windy conditions like a sailing
ship, the team's aerodynamics expert Jasper Hemmes told organisers.
There is
also a Cruiser class which aims to showcase solar technology for mainstream
vehicles that are more practical for day-to-day use.
Another
Dutch team, Eindhoven, is on track to finish Friday and win that class, with
Germany's HS Bochum tracking second.
The
vehicles are powered by the sun and mostly developed by universities or
corporations, with teams hailing from Australia and countries across the world
including the United States, Malaysia, India and South Africa.
They are
allowed to store a small amount of energy but the majority of their power has
to come from the sun and the vehicle's kinetic forces.
The crews
drove between 8am and 5pm each day with seven checkpoints along a route cutting
through the heart of Australia's central desert region, to get updates on their
standings, the weather, and do basic maintenance.
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And the first pictures are online with thanks to @hapevv and @Lightatwork! Keep checking for updates! #BWSC17 #nuonsolarteam #takeonthedutch pic.twitter.com/nTnBi4ihM8— Nuon Solar Team (@NuonSolarTeam) October 12, 2017
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