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The UNSW Solar Racing Team awoke not to the sound of rain, but the clear skies that Melbourne is not famous for. The team had banked on the fact that there would be showers today but this unpredicted change evened up the playing field with all teams starting the day with full battery packs. The starting grid formed up in front of the Melbourne Museum, and after being waved away a convoy was led by a police escort through the streets of the city.
It made a pleasant change for the driver to be able to see out the canopy of the solar car and watch the faces of passers-by as we drove through the CBD. On the trip out we had a bit of excitement when a polystyrene box was blown into the path of the solar car. Rumours that a box full of dry ice had landed on our array proved to be unfounded, and no damage was done to the car as it ploughed through the box.
To save battery energy we crawled along on array power only. After a short stop before the start of timing to replace a rear tyre which had been damaged in the city, we headed off at a fairly conservative pace. The gusty crosswind made keeping the car in a straight line difficult, but it arrived at the first stop in one piece. With a near full battery pack still we then continued at a faster pace to the next stop.
A mistake in the route notes led to us missing the next control stop, but we weren't the only team to do so. We ended up stopping on the side of the freeway, attempting some running repairs on the array while we were there. This proved to be our downfall not long after this. We lost battery power earlier than expected, possibly due to overheating, so it was a slow trip the rest of the way to Albury.
The times for today were unavailable due to some confusion about the situation with the missed control stops, and the fact that the convoy broke up on the way out of Melbourne. At the finish there was the usual mix of relaxing and working on the car. Having gone through tyres more quickly than we had expected we also picked up a dozen more Michelin tyres. We broke our habit yesterday, but once again we were the last team left in the evening. Tuggers seemed to stay a while in sympathy, but soon they too left. Even a passing NRMA patrol van stopped to check that we didn't need assistance with a breakdown.
Willy The Whale
Willy!
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