The World Solar Challenge kicks off in just under a week's time.
This is the moment that the 18 students of the Solar Team Twente
have been working towards for the past year and a half. Driver
Haico Stegink tells us about the team's final preparations down
under. "It gives you a real buzz being able to drive the solar car
here."
The Solar Team Twente departed for Australia at the beginning of
September to prepare for the World Solar Challenge. There has been
no sunning it up on the beach or holiday-making for these students
though; the team had to get straight down to work. Stegink:
"Although the car was ready when we left and we'd already done
quite a lot of tests back home, we wanted to arrive in Australia as
early as possible because this is where the real testing starts.
The conditions here are totally different. We're working in daily
temperatures of 35 degrees and above with high humidity, and the
asphalt on the roads is very different than in the Netherlands.
Plus, we're used to driving under battery power. Here we can drive
using real solar energy."
The heat is on
Stegink is one of the team's drivers. He says it's "a real buzz"
being able to drive the car. "The fact that you sit really low down
in the car's cockpit and are surrounded by a lot of noise makes you
feel like you're going really fast." But Stegink admits it can get
pretty hot in the car. The temperature in the cockpit is roughly 10
degrees hotter than outside. "It's not too bad while you're driving
because a small warm stream of air reaches the cockpit through the
lenses. But the minute you have to stop, it's like a sauna in
there. Especially because you always have to wear a helmet."
Cattle grids
In Australia, the team is busy putting the car through its
paces. There's a lot of time-consuming tests to be performed,
Stegink explains. He tells us about the cattle grid test.
"The team has to navigate 95 cattle grids in total during the race.
Each time you drive over one of these grids, the car's frame and
shock absorbers take quite a pounding. This is why the first time
you cross one you only go at a speed of about 10 kilometres an
hour. If that goes well, you drive over the next one 5 kilometres
per hour faster and so on. There's also the fact that you can't
just turn round on the hard shoulder - you'll easily puncture your
tires that way - which means you have to make a big detour before
you can turn the car. So, as you can imagine, it takes a long time
to reach 90 kilometres an hour."
Contingency plans
Yesterday, the team performed one of the most extensive tests so
far: simulating a race day during which lots of problems occur.
Stegink: "You have to practice a number of different contingency
plans at least once. How best to change a flat tire is one of them.
The first thing you have to remember is to park the car on top of a
tarpaulin sheet on the hard shoulder to ensure the other tires
don't burst. We also simulated radio failure between our race car
and the other cars. The scout car then has to communicate with the
solar car using signs, for example to indicate how fast you're
allowed to drive." The team also practiced what to do in the event
of a driver falling ill. Stegink: "I had to pretend to be
unconscious while three people freed me from the cramped
cockpit."
Preparing the drivers
It's not only the solar car that has to withstand the rigorous
conditions during the race; the drivers have to be well prepared as
well. Being stuck in a small hot cockpit for hours at a time is
tough going. Back in the Netherlands the drivers prepared for the
race by exercising several times a week in a hot room with a thick
jumper on. In Darwin, the drivers go for a run on the beach three
times a week. "We go for a run around seven o'clock in the morning
but even then it's already pushing 27 degrees."
Delft crash
Just recently, the Delft team flew off the road during a test
run. The car was badly damaged. You might expect this to have
dampened the spirits in the Twente camp but far from it, Stegink
assures us. "I've driven our car into the verge myself during a
test in the Netherlands but that was driving at about thirty
kilometres an hour. I thought that was bad enough but the Delft
team hit the shoulder at 110 kilometres an hour. I wouldn't wish
that on anybody! Obviously we'd really like to win but we don't
want to win at the expense of someone else's misfortune."
According to Stegink this is illustrative of the mutual respect
and camaraderie among the teams. "We all want to win but we help
each other where we can and borrow equipment from each other. All
the teams are showing a real sporting spirit."
The race
The starting gun for the tenth World Solar Challenge fires on 25
October. The 3010 kilometre race stretches across the Australian
desert from Darwin to Adelaide. The teams are allowed to race each
day between nine o'clock in the morning and five in the evening.
This is Solar Team Twente's third year entering the race. Stegink
is not prepared to speculate on how far the Twente team will come
but he is confident that his team will perform well. "This year,
we've been able to run more tests than previously. I'm confident
we'll finish well. I expect the battle between the top 10 to be
tougher than in previous years but we're ready for the
challenge!"
