All eleven of the remaining Sasol Solar Challenge teams made it safely to Port Elizabeth Kings Beach yesterday despite strong winds that peaked at 50 kilometres per hour, measured by Dutch team Nuon’s mobile weather station.
Despite the Challenge being more than halfway done, there is still no clear winner.
“The top four teams are slowly starting to pull away from the pack in terms of their distance – all still within reach of breaking the event record – but the competition is so close this year that there’s no clear winner emerging,” says Winstone Jordaan, Sasol Solar Challenge director.
The large convoy of more than 350 people is moving through South Africa to demonstrate the high-tech solar cars to future scientists and engineers. The small, single-seater aerodynamic cars serve as valuable research and development vehicles for their universities, and with five South African teams competing against several world champions, the event has a big impact on the local energy and engineering industries.
Today the eleven teams travel from Port Elizabeth via Humansdorp to Sedgefield..
The Sasol Solar Challenge is open to the public and media at all the stopping points.
