Michigan: Here we go!

Continuum completed dynamic scrutineering successfully this morning at 9:00am at the Hidden Valley Raceway. Our qualifying lap was 2 minutes 30 seconds, securing us the 11th position in tomorrow morning's starting lineup. A total of 38 solar cars will leave Darwin for Adelaide in the 20th anniversary of this amazing race.

Continuum has been packed into the semi for transportation to the start line in a few hours. All the seams are taped, all the bolts are checked, the batteries are charged, and the tires are filled. Continuum will be unpacked at 5:00am tomorrow morning just outside of Parliament where the race will begin. Early hours will be filled with additional system checks, additional pre-race scrutineering, and a public display immediately before drivers enter their cars at 7:45. As the 11th vehicle beginning the 2007 World Solar Challenge, Continuum will cross the start line at 8:10am tomorrow morning (6:40pm on Saturday evening in Ann Arbor.)

We're all very pleased with how far Continuum has come since it was completed earlier this summer. The vehicle has logged 2,390 miles of pre-race testing in 2.5 months, 1,710 of which were on Australian soil with an active concentrator system. Recent testing has shown that we're finally reaching the levels of performance that we've been hoping for. As Continuum rolls out of Darwin in approximately 8 hours, we can be proud knowing that we've completed a suitable addition to the long lineage of Michigan Solar Cars.

Blog posts during the race will be delivered with the help of Tom Carroll, our Interim Project Manager based in Ann Arbor. Tom has been working behind the scenes with a strong group of Team members back on campus to help support our efforts here in Oz. If you'd like to contact anyone on the Race Crew over the next 5-6 days, please send emails to solarcar@umich.edu where Tom will receive the messages and forward them to the Wolverines crossing the Outback. For up to date information on race progress, you can follow the pack through the WSC website at www.wsc.org.au.

Thanks to everyone for your kind messages and words of encouragement. We look forward to making you proud this week.

Go Fast, Go Smooth, GO BLUE!!!

Brian