UMSolar (Aurum) - Day 3

Holding onto 3rd despite setback

While Michigan finished the end of Day 3 still in third place, the afternoon brought some challenges for the team. Not long after we in the media van had been discussing how impressive it was that the car hadn’t spent any time pulled over, word came over the radio that Aurum was stopped....

A few minutes after the dispatch, around 2:30 p.m., we caught up to the car in the shoulder, a blur of yellow hazard vests around it. Took the team just a few minutes to fix a mechanical issue with a tire well enough to continue. But it slowed Aurum down. The two Dutch leaders pulled ahead, still within sight of one another. Tokai was still behind Michigan, thanks, in part, to two ten-minute penalties.

Game-changing penalties

Race officials are being generous with penalties this year. Penalties involve teams being held back at control stops for varying lengths of time, depending on the infraction, while other teams pull out ahead. Official race observers ride in every team’s chase vehicle (which rides right behind each solar car.) If one of these observers sees a violation, they report it to headquarters in Adelaide. And there, officials decide how many minutes to sentence the team to.

Punch Powertrain received a full hour for a reckless driving maneuver that team members insist didn’t occur.

Tokai has received two 10-minute set-backs. The first for reckless driving of the team’s media vehicle and the second for an incident with Michigan.

Heading into familiar territory

Today, Aurum crosses the half-way point in the World Solar Challenge and the border into South Australia, a state crew chief Arnold Kadiu called “home turf” at the team meeting last night. It’s a windy, buggy place where the students spent eight grueling days in the Outback testing. (They weren’t able to do a traditional end-to-end mock race this year because of new race regulations.)

“We know this area better than any other team,” Kadiu said.

More from UMSolar: HERE.

The Top 5:

1
#21 Red One - Solar Team Twente (Netherlands)
Location: Kulgera
Overall time: 21:45:43
Avg. Speed: 91kph
Total distance: 1766km

2
#3 Nuna8 - Nuon Solar Team (Netherlands)
Location: Kulgera
Overall time: 21:45:53
Avg. Speed 91kph
Total distance: 1766km

3
#2 Aurum - University of Michigan Solar Car Team (United States)
Location: Kulgera
Overall time: 21:56:16
Avg. Speed: 92kph
Total distance: 1766km

4
#8 Punch One - Punch Powertrain Solar Team (Belgium)
Location: Kulgera
Overall time: 22:06:15
Avg. speed: 94kph
Total distance: 1766km

5
#10 Tokai Challenger - Tokai University (Japan)
Location: Kulgera
Overall time: 22:11:38
Avg. speed: 90kph
Total distance: 1766km

WSC Complete Timing Board: HERE.

Go Aurum! Go Blue!

M-Dog: Please explain the external chargers as previously found on Nuon's car. Thanks!