Michigan: Continuum Finishes 7th in Challenge Class

Continuum completed the last 280.7 km of the race in 2 hours and 55 minutes with an average speed of 96.7 kilometers. Yesterday we ended with a negative battery pack and today we finished with more than half of a pack remaining. For the Alice Springs to Adelaide half of the race we averaged 89.8 km/hr and finished that section of the race only 16 minutes behind Nuon's time. We started this part of the race with well less than half of a battery pack, while they were given time to fully charge their batteries in Alice Springs. Continuum barely didn't catch up with 3 of the Teams directly in front of us and we should end up in 7^th place in Challenge Class. Overall we passed over 25 Teams on our climb up after the accident. Continuum was the 4^th Team to cross the finish line.

We've always been looking for a different finish than what we ended up with, but we are ultimately very happy with how Continuum performed. To us, the first half of the race demonstrates that we are the best Team in the world while the second half demonstrates that we have the best car in the world. A first place victory almost comes as an empty victory because it doesn't demonstrate how good the Team really is. Having rallied around the crash we were able to show the world how well we face adversity and how well prepared the Team was. As we crossed the finish line there were 25 friends and family members that had made the trip to Australia to watch the race and cheer us on. We were all happy that we could make them proud by completing this race the way that we did.

The World Solar Challenge has left everyone with a desire to continue racing Continuum. We all look forward to participating in the North American Solar Challenge, where we will have the opportunity to show the world what Continuum is truly capable of. None of this would have been possible without the tremendous support of our sponsors including our Platinum sponsors: The University of Michigan, The University of Michigan College of Engineering, BHP Billiton, Ford, and General Motors. We would like to thank all of them and we hope that we have made you proud to be a part of the University of Michigan Solar Car Team!

Go Fast, Go Smooth, Go Blue!