We woke to a gorgeous blue sky and a good charge on the battery this morning.
We passed another team on our way to the Port Augusta control stop.
On the way we faced a very big hill, longer than the one we got stuck on the first day and almost as steep, but we had planned well and with a run up we were able to get over it easily and enjoy the long downhill run on the other side.
Once again the car was able to cruise on the speed limit for long stretches.
At the Port Augusta control stop we came in 14tht overall and while it is difficult at the moment to confirm our position, we are probably in the top ten of the adventure class solar cars.
Unfortunately, we suffered a puncture just as we rolled to a stop under the direction of the marshal. The rules forbid working on the car during the control stop so after the 30 minute wait we had to roll the car out of the marshalling area and change the wheel.
Because we were already safely stopped in a “good” place and had 30 minutes to think about it, it was changed in only a few minutes and we were underway again.
Later in the afternoon we still had good sun and we had been running fast when we reached a long downhill stretch and used the regeneration feature again to put current back into the batteries. There was a problem however, when suddenly the car lost all power and coasted to a stop near the bottom of the hill.
It quickly became apparent the system had shut down the motor to protect the batteries.
Like all good technicians, the first thing we tried was turning it off and turning it on again and we soon had the car going again.
At 5:08pm we arrived at a petrol station at the turn off to Redhill and were made welcome by the proprietor to camp for the evening.
Tomorrow, the final day, begins with bacon and egg sandwiches and coffee from the roadhouse. We expect to be arriving at the last control point at Virginia where official timing for the race ends. We will then proceed down Port Wakefield Road into the city and with luck and good sunshine we will arrive in Victoria Square about lunchtime.
