Despite cloudy weather for the first two days of the record
attempt the team was still able to push through for the fastest ever time. This
record is unlikely to ever be bettered since the technical regulations have
changed for the next solar car race, requiring the vehicles to be more like
conventional cars.
The adventurer Hans Tholstrup did the original west-east
Australian solar car trip in 1983, in his solar car, the Quiet Achiever.
Subsequently, in 1987, the World Solar Challenge invited bright
young engineers and scientists from around the world to pursue the ideals of
sustainable transport.
The ultimate challenge is to design and build a car capable of
travelling across the Australian Continent on the power of sunlight and prove it
by undertaking the 3000km journey in the spirit of friendly competition against
others with the same goal. Over the last 20 years more than 300 solar car teams
from around the globe have competed in the race from Darwin to Adelaide.
In effect, by breaking the West-East Transcontinental record,
the Jaycar Sunswift has written the last chapter for solar race cars as we know
them.
Why? Because this year’s Panasonic World Solar Challenge will
be run with more conventionally shaped cars, ending the reign of cars which are
shaped like a credit card and not much thicker.
