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The first day of AGO SunRace 2002! As I watched UNSW Sunswift II (mark 4) slowly glide away from the start line, the realisation of why all the work had been done dawned on me. Just for that fleeting moment it all seemed magical, all the troubles and problems seem so far away - but then it hits you - there's a good 4 hours of driving to be done today... The build up in the morning didn't get off to a good start, with the team leaving 40 minutes later than expected, and as we rolled out it 'seemed' that the Chisholm team was just getting up. The order in which we started was determined by the results of yesterday's speed trials, so we slotted in behind Aurora but ahead of Lake Tuggeranong College. While some of the team took time to sample the breakfast put on by Baker's Delight, a few members stuck around to show the car to the Minister of Foreign Affairs the Hon. Alexander Downer, who showed a strong interest in the potential of solar power for use in future cars. After a brief talk from the Governer of South Australia, AGO SunRace 2002 started with Mr Downer waving away the cars one by one.
After one of our support cars spent some time following the Aurora trailer (as it was hoped they knew where they were going) we finally realised we were ahead of the field, which quickly caught up once we pulled over. From here, it was on to the first media stop with only a minor concern with the trailer on the way. It did however appear that a gap was already forming between us and Tuggers. During the stop it gave a chance to rotate the drivers and at this point we were a minute behind the lead car, Aurora. For the rest of the day there wasn't much between the two leading teams while the rest were fighting out further back.
We arrived in Peterborough 1 minute 47 seconds behind Aurora, and quickly set up the array to start charging the batteries. With the good weather a full charge was quickly reached. However the local kids kept us quite busy with members of the team answering questions and signing shirts. After problems on the way, Wilyama high school and the team from Peterborough made it through, just on the 6 o'clock deadline.
Dinner for the night was kindly provided by the Rotary and Lions club's of Peterborough, and was much appreciated by all. Being in Peterborough (the home town of Blue light disco's) a few of us thought there might be one on ... (ok - one of us...) but it didn't happen. Not that much was going to distract us from going to sleep. Well apart from a game of Battleship, while some of the team had to be kept away from the town...
Willy The Whale
Willy!
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