| |  | | | | |
Today was a far more successful day for the UNSW Solar Racing Team. With our battery problems fixed the team's performance was much improved and the day's stage was closely fought between us and Aurora.
In the morning the clouds parted just enough that we were able to get a full charge into our batteries to allow us to run at higher speeds today. While the car sunned itself at the Broken Hill start line the team members enjoyed a cooked breakfast provided by the local Rotary club.
The cloudy conditions still followed the race today. Heading out of Broken Hill we started off slowly, crawling through the town on array power only before picking up speed. A strong headwind kept our speed down and threw UNSW Sunswift II about a bit, but we were still able to set a good pace.
The leg between Broken Hill and Mildura is a vast expanse with next to nothing along the way. The only control stop along the way was Coombah Roadhouse, little more than a petrol station. By this stage we were a couple of minutes behind Aurora, but with a good chance to catch up.
We picked up our speed a bit more, and continued on towards Wentworth. Close to the finish we had to slow down a bit to save our energy, but at the finish we found out that Aurora had done the same thing and that the final result for the day wouldn't be known until the presentation ceremony.
In the mean time team members set to work talking with the local media from ABC radio and the local newspaper. At the presentation we found out that we had been pipped again by Aurora, but the team is now in second place overall after making up our deficit to the Chisolm Institute's electric vehicle.
Willy The Whale
Willy!
Mail Bag
If you have a question for the team, or would like to wish them well, write to our mail bag, care of Ask Willy. | | | |
