OT: WSC - Day 3

Day 3 (Halfway point) 

Astrum started the day just three minutes adrift of Tokai, confident that they would be passed. Sure enough, Astrum zoomed around Tokai about half an hour after setting off for the day. The first control stop on this day was Alice Springs, a small town right in the center of Australia. Because it is an  actual town (rather than just a roadside rest stop) it has a slightly more hectic, urban setting and was a little tougher to navigate. No issues popped up and Astrum arrived only two minutes behind Sonnenwagen Aachen (GER) in 4th place. While Astrum was attempting to overtake, something didn't seem right with the car. It seemed as if something was rubbing against the wheels, the fenders, the spats, or the seals (Astrum's wheel wells are closed off for better aero efficiency). While at Alice Springs the current driver, Terry, diagnosed the issue and determined that the left front wheel spat had to come off. But, outside of the driver, the team is not allowed to touch the car at control stops. A plan was made to have Terry drive about thirty seconds out of the control stop (once it was Astrum's time to leave) then immediately pull to the side of the road so that the spat could be removed. Fortunately, Team Sonnenwagen Aachen was having their own troubles. They were slated to exit Alice Springs two minutes before Astrum but while attempting to back their car out of their parking spot they got stuck in a pothole. After trying to back out multiple times, two of their team members finally pushed the car out. By the time they were on the road, there was only forty seconds to go before Astrum was scheduled to leave. This turned out to be an advantage, as Terry needed a few minutes to have the spat removed. As soon as the timer hit zero, Astrum was out of her parking spot and drove about fifty meters before stopping to let the mechanical engineers remove the problematic spat. That took no more than three minutes and Astrum was quickly back on the road, now around four minutes behind Sonnenwagen. Eventually, Astrum passed them and moved into 4th place.

Leaving Alice Springs and heading towards Erldunda, the winds shifted to a more southern flow (headwinds), which was expected based on UM's weather forecast. Headwinds can pose problems for some solar cars. Astrum’s bullet-shaped design means that she can handle headwinds better than catamaran-style counterparts, as the pointy nose allows her to slice through the wind. At the same time, it started to become overcast. The presence of clouds means less sun and the increasing presence of a front. The Strategy team needed to be more careful of the amount of sun absorbed by the solar cells and analyze the tradeoffs between driving slower (to absorb more sunlight) or going faster to maintain race pace. After passing Sonnenwagen, Astrum was slowly but surely gaining on the Brunel Solar Team (seven time world champs) currently in 3rd place. While closing the gap slightly, the specter of something rubbing against the wheel returned. Astrum needed to slow down quite a bit so as to not lose too much battery power. The team is hard at work to fix the tire scrub issue. Although not ideal, Astrum is still sitting solidly in 4th, a great position considering the car started 32nd just two days ago. Tomorrow, Astrum will traverse a familiar stretch of road, where eight days of testing occurred between Marla and Glendambo. This area is also known for having heavy winds, which notably blew multiple teams off the road four years ago. Although Astrum had no issues with the winds, while testing, anything can happen. Brunel is a formidable team and catching up to them will be a challenge.

Last update: 10-27-23 22:12:07 Darwin time (+14.5 hrs Central Time) 

1 - Innoptus (BEL)
    Check-In: 11:07:25
    Avg: 90.8 kph (56.4 mph)

2 - Team Twente (NED)
    Check-In:11:40:37
    Avg: 88.2 kph (54.8 mph)

3 - Brunel (NED)
    Check-In:12:01:53
    Avg: 86.6 kph (53.8 mph)

4 - Astrum (USA)
    Check-In:13:24:13
    Avg: 80.9 kph (50.9 mph)

5 - Sonnenwagen Aachen (GER)
    Check-In:13:40:41
    Avg: 79.9 kph (49.0 mph)