OT: World Solar Challenge - Day 5 Recap

Day 5 started at sunrise as usual, and found the team in great spirits. That morning and the previous evening, the Team had optimal charging conditions for the solar array. The sky was clear for the first time since leaving Darwin (due to continuous bushfire haze and clouds along the entire route).
 
By 8:03 am, everything was packed, the Team bid farewell to the last Outback camping location, and Astrum was back on the road. The initial speeds were higher than before; around 100 kph (60 mph). The goal was to use all of the power by the time Astrum crossed the finish line, so speeds remained high for the rest of the day.

As Astrum left the Port Augusta control stop, it passed Team Sonnenwagen Aachen, the 5th place team at the time, as they arrived. Unknown to the Team, their car, Covestro Adelie, would be blown off the road and would roll over just outside of Port Augusta, moments after leaving a control stop. Fortunately, no one was injured and their car was still drivable, but the regulations state that cars that roll over are disqualified. That's a tough way to end a race, so close to the finish line. 
 
In hindsight, it’s easy to see why that team got into an accident south of Port Augusta. The rolling hills are difficult for solar cars due to the rapid changes in elevation. And, in the last 150 kilometers, the combined winds from the ocean and hilly terrain make for extremely unpredictable crosswinds. Closer to Adelaide, the increasingly busy traffic increases the challenge even more.

At around 2 pm, four hours behind the first place team, Innoptus, and an hour and half after the third place team, Brunel, Astrum entered Adelaide. All the Race Crew members who were in the Weather, Scout, and Service cars gathered at the endpoint, awaiting Astrum and the main caravan. When Astrum came rolled down the street, the Team cheered and blasted The Victors as loud as possible.

 
Passed the finish line, it was time for the ceremonial finish at Victoria Square in downtown Adelaide. The entire team piled into the bus, all except Terry, the last driver, who would drive Astrum to her destination.
 
Victoria Square was bustling with Bridgestone World Solar Challenge fans, tech enthusiasts, and casual passersby. The Team got off the bus and walked Astrum down the red carpet while waving the American and U of M flags, singing The Victors, clapping and cheering. Then, following the tradition for all of the teams, the Team jumped into the Three Rivers Fountain. The five-day journey through the Outback was over.

It’s not entirely accurate to say that the journey only lasted five days. Astrum’s conception began two years ago, soon after the 2021 BWSC was cancelled. Starting last August (2022), over 150 team members participated in designing Astrum. Then from May all the way to the start of the race, the Race Crew worked nonstop to manufacture and test. Lots of people put in LOTS of time which resulted in the best car yet.
 
The Team is extremely proud of the 4th place finish, considering it came after a 4-year hiatus and a 32nd place start. You can count on the Team being back in Australia, with an even better team and car, in 2025.

FOLLOW-UP regarding Cooling Vests/Systems for the drivers. I traded emails with Team Spokesperson Bonnie Zhu. This was the reply I received:

There’s no cooling system because exactly as you said, it would consume too much power or be too heavy. However, our drivers do wear cooling vests, which are a more lightweight solution. 

The Mechanical Engineers didn’t immediately pull off all the seals because they were pretty confident the scrub was only coming from one wheel—the driver only reported hearing it on one side. However, after seeing that power consumption was still higher than expected, they removed all the seals just in case. Turns out, that fixed the power consumption (issue).