OT: World Solar Challenge - Astrum

The World Solar Challenge has kicked off for 2023. The race runs from Darwin to Adelaide along the famous Stuart Highway.

Scrutineering
The latest University of Michigan solar car is named Astrum. There are two days of scrutineering which precede the race. For those of you not familiar with motorsports, scrutineering involves checks and inspections to ensure that the car follows the rules and is road capable. For the WSC, there is Static and Dynamic scrutineering. Astrum managed to easily pass Static scrutineering but ran into some issues with the Dynamic portion. Part of the Dynamic test is a 'hot' lap around Hidden Valley Raceway. Just like any motorsports qualifying session, fastest lap earns the Pole position. Unfortunately, Astrum ran into some issues with the electric motor. The car stopped on track and would not re-start. Switching to the old, reliable back-up motor seemed to solve the issue but the one shot at a hot lap was lost. It turned out that the motor controller was damaged from the extreme heat generated (on track) during the previous day's testing. Unfortunately, that wasn't discovered earlier because the internal mechanism responsible for displaying errors was also broken.

Astrum was designed/optimized for long-distance efficiency on the Stuart Highway, which is a straight, flat road. It is not the optimal car for driving on a racetrack. That means that the issues seen on the track will (likely/hopefully) not recur in the Outback. Astrum eventually passed Dynamic scrutineering and earned its WSC tag:

Day 1
Because Astrum couldn’t complete the hot lap the day before, it started in 32nd place, following the 31 cars that successfully qualified. =( Traditionally, Chuck Hutchins, a longtime supporter and sponsor of the team, sends Michigan solar cars off with the school flag at every starting line. Sadly, he was unable to join this year. =( But, at 8:42 AM, the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge officially began for Astrum.

Obviously, the goal was to pass as many teams as possible in an attempt to catch up to the front of the pack. This is more difficult than it seems, as passing in a solar car caravan is more complex. When the solar car moves to pass, the Lead and Chase vehicles (which are directly in front of and behind the solar car) must move with it. These three cars try to operate as a single unit throughout the entire competition. And when one solar car caravan is attempting to pass another, there needs to be enough space for all three cars to pass together.
 
Slowly but surely, Astrum passed team after team. Sometimes, it was a slow struggle in no-pass lanes, and other times, teams were pulled off the road and busy with repairs, allowing Astrum to pass easily.

Around midday, Astrum arrived at the first control point, in Katherine, in 8th place. The goal was to pass both Top Dutch and Kogakuin, racing neck and neck, before Astrum reached the next control stop in Dunmarra. 
 
After a few hours, Astrum began closing the gap on the two teams ahead. Because the two were so close together, it was extremely difficult to pass. At one point, event vehicles and other cars also joined the group. This made it even tighter and more difficult to get in between. Astrum eventually managed to pass Kogakuin, then Top Dutch, just before reaching Dunmarra. Astrum will be leaving Dunmarra less than two minutes ahead of both the following morning. Astrum ended the day in 6th place after starting in 32nd, having passed 26 vehicles. Not bad for one day of competition.

Day 2
With the Tokai University Solar Car Team, Top Dutch Solar Racing Team, and Kogakuin University Solar Team, Astrum started the day at Dunmarra, the second control stop. The previous day, Tokai finished there approximately 25 minutes ahead, in 5th place. Astrum had just overtaken Top Dutch and Kogakuin, and was sitting in 6th place, the two other teams within 2 minutes. 
 
During the competition, teams are only allowed to drive between 8 AM and 5 PM. If they drive after 5 PM, the amount of extra time they spend driving is deducted from the next day. Astrum arrived at the Dunmarra control stop @ 4:55 PM. Given that each vehicle stays at a control stop for 30 minutes means that Astrum will sit at Dunmarra for 25 minutes the following morning.

Astrum left, right on schedule, at 8:25 AM. At 8:26, Top Dutch set off with Kogakuin following at 8:27. During the morning, some fog was experienced but eventually burned off. Then, the Chase vehicle noticed a seal dangling off Astrum’s aero body. A quick stop was needed to remove it. But Astrum performed flawlessly aside from that. 

During the morning, Astrum kept pace with Tokai, following them by about 20 minutes. In the early afternoon, Astrum arrived at Tennant Creek, the first control stop of the day. At the next control stop, Barrow Creek, Astrum was only 10 minutes behind Tokai. Astrum is gaining ground...

Prior to arriving at Barrow Creek, UM's weather vehicle, which drives about an hour ahead of the main caravan to report on weather, observed severe bush fires impacting visibility and engulfing the entire area in smoke. Concerned about the smoke, Astrum's driver, Ethan, wore an N-95 mask while driving this portion. 
 
Astrum was able to drive past the bush fires unscathed and arrived at the end of day location, Ti Tree, at 5:03 PM. It happened to be the same place Tokai stopped for the night. Tokai had arrived at 5 PM, a mere 3 minutes ahead.

Tokai University is a formidable foe. I believe they're former winners of the WSC and have major backing from Panasonic. To be this close to them, this soon, is a huge positive.

More coming tomorrow!