Nuon: Job called in panic

He lost his back pack, but luckily he found it after a brief search.

Arrival: Nuon

After 33 hours and 17 minutes with an average speed of 90.07km/hr, Nuna 4 has arrived in Victoria Square.

Nuon: Nuna4 finishes first in WSC!

Nuna4 has crossed the finish line first in the 2007 Panasonic World Solar Challenge. At 16:54:00 Nuna4 crossed the time finish line, crossing the Australian continent in 4 days at an average speed around 91 km/hr.

After a partial rest day in Alice Springs, Nuna experienced a hard 3rd day of racing. After wearing 4 left tires, the team decided to completely rebuild the left suspension at the end of the racing day.

It obviously paid off, as the clear skies of our camp south of Coober Pedy in the naked and truly barren outback contributed to spectacularly clear skies. A extremely chilly night apparently did not deter the sun, as static charging during sunset and sunrise were more than 1.5 times better than expected. This contributed to Nuna's spectacular finishing day, consistently driving at or near the 110 km/hr speed limit, and finishing off the day in Nuna style. Hard crosswinds did cause another flat tire, but the results do not lie, as we finished far ahead of our nearest rivals.

The team is extremely happy with our result, and this blog is being written as we are anxious to get out on the Adelaide nightlife to celebrate our latest victory!!!

Update: Nuon

Arrival Angle Vale: 16:54
Total Travel Time: 33hr 17 min
Average Speed: 90.07 km/hr

Update: Nuon

Nuon has finished the timed component of the Panasonic World Solar Challenge. Their official arrival time is 16:54.

Update: Nuon

Nuna through Port Wakefield.

Update: Nuon

Sighted at Lochiel with a helicopter in pursuit.

--Event Director

Update: Nuon

Departed Port Augusta. Is not expected into Victoria Square until 10am tomorrow morning.

Update: Nuon

Nuon advises us that their level of confidence of arriving in Adelaide today is low.

Other information currently available suggests that there is low hanging cloud over the Eyre Penninsula to the Mt Lofty ranges. Forecasters report that this is expected to burn off later in the day.

Update: Nuon

Sighted 182km North Glendambo

--Event Director

Update: Nuon

Reported 190km North of Glendambo.

Update: Nuon

Arrived Cadney: 13:54

Nuon: True solar car racing

The Nuna experienced its most exciting day in true solar car racing fashion yesterday. After having cruised solidly for over 2 hours to the Tennant Creek control stop, it appeared that the Umicar Infinity experienced significant mechanical problems with their steering system, having apparently worn their rack and pinion and making the car nearly impossible to steer. Nuna arrived at the control stop shortly after the Belgians, and left it earlier as the Umicar underwent repairs directly after the mandatory control stop.

The Nuna gained a firm foothold on the lead in the following hours. Having made emergency stops to replace our carbon shock absorbers on the rough roads, the Nuna was also not entirely spared of problems. The lead appeared to narrow significantly after Devil’s Marbles, narrowing to 4 minutes, in an incredible attempt to get past Nuna by the Belgian team.

In true solar racing form, the only variable to exacerbate the situation was a storm system with complete and dark cloud coverage, gail winds reaching 80 km/h, and the threat of heavy rain. At around 4 p.m., Nuna entered just that, and in a true feat of our excellent strategy team, Nuna took a significant lead. The gails took their toll however, making the car yaw so much that our left tire burst, having worn through even its canvas. Nuna didn’t meet its goal of reaching Alice Springs by 5 p.m., but did increase the lead to over 60 km just that night. It appears that this lead only increased, as we rolled into Alice this morning within 17 minutes. The Belgians arrived 82 minutes after us. As a testament to true solar car racing form, it is an example of the numerous factors that are involved that make a team sucessful.

Update: Nuon

Nuna camped 20km North Alice Springs

Nuon: En we liggen op de eerste positie!!!

Vanochtend zijn we om 05.30uur opgestaan. Terwijl Wubbo gezellig op zijn gitaar aan het spelen was, kwam iedereen redelijk uitgerust zijn tentje uit. Nadat iedereen zijn spullen had ingepakt, hebben we Nuna naar zijkant van de weg gereden om daar statisch te gaan laden. Dit beloofde veel voor wat we qua vermogen van het zonnepaneel binnen zouden krijgen voor de komende dag. Om 08.05uur mochten we weer vertrekken en begonnen we rustig aan de tweede race dag. Vrij snel zijn we de snelheid op gaan voeren en reden we 110km/u. Om 11.25uur waren we bij de derde control stop in Tennant Creek, waar ook Tiga en het Umicore Solar Team stonden. Een van de Belgische teamleden kwam meteen naar ons toe om te vragen of dat ze een schroefmachine mochten lenen omdat er iets in hun stuurinrichting afgebroken was. Deze hebben we natuurlijk uitgeleend. Helaas voor hun duurde de reparatie zo lang dat wij eerder weg konden rijden en dus plots aan kop stond in de Challenge Class. Na een paar kilometer kwamen we ze tot onze verrassing weer tegen, want ze wilden ons graag inhalen. Via radiocontact vroeg Diederik, hoe snel ze wilden gaan rijden, zodat we onze snelheid daar op konden aanpassen! Niet veel later vielen de Belgen weer stil met problemen. Was wel een beetje jammer om ze zo in te halen, op de weg is toch leuker… Hierna zijn we rustig doorgereden met 100-110km/u. Na een tijdje zag Mission Control ineens dat Nuna schuin begon te hangen, dus dachten we dat we een lekke band hadden. Uiteraard zijn we toen snel gestopt, maar nadat we de wielkap van de auto hadden gehaald, bleek de band niet lek te zijn. De enige opties was dat de demper leeg was, dus hebben we snel de topshell van de auto gehaald en toen bleek inderdaad dat de demper leeg was. Na hem snel opgepompt te hebben en konden we weer verder rijden. Echter na ongeveer 500m hing Nuna weer scheef, dus hebben we deze keer maar meteen de demper vervangen. Ondanks dat dit niet geoefend was hebben we dit in minder dan 10min voor elkaar gekregen! Toen begon de bewolking langzaam toe te nemen, eerst met wat kleine wolkjes, maar gaandeweg dat de kilometers onder Nuna door gleden werd de bewolking dikker en donkerder. Ook kregen we steeds meer last van zijwind en moest Oliver af en toe wel een klein beetje slingeren om Nuna goed op de weg te houden. Ondanks de forse tegenwind en de dichte bewolking hebben we toch nog een hele tijd rond de 100km/u kunnen rijden. Totdat Oliver ineens door de com riep dat er iets met de linker voorband aan de hand was. Dus hebben we voor de derde keer Scout aan de kant gezet en het zeil uitgelegd. Echter dit keer haalde Nuna het zeiltje niet meer, want zij reed al op haar velg! Dus wij rennen naar Nuna toe en Nuna op het zeiltje getild. En inderdaad de linker voorband was lek, wel logisch aangezien de wind van rechts kwam… Dus snel de band vervangen en meteen gekeken of de andere banden nog goed waren en weer snel de weg op. Ondertussen werd de lucht maar donkerder en donkerder hebben we de snelheid een beetje naar beneden bijgesteld om de batterijen door het slechte weer niet helemaal leeg te rijden, we willen uiteindelijk toch echt in Adelaide aankomen! Tegen het einde van de dag werd het duidelijk dat we de control stop in Alice Springs net niet gingen halen en hebben we een kampeerplek gezocht. We staan nu 12,4km van de control stop af en zullen die morgen vroeg dus snel bereiken. De Belgen hebben door het weer hun batterijen leeg gereden en staan 68km verderop. Aurora staat daar nog 2 km voor. Nuna staat nu ingepakt tegen de regen die voor vannacht wordt voorspeld en het tentenkamp is weer gemaakt. Welterusten en tot morgen!!

Nuon: Incredible highs and lows marked the first race day

Woken up at 4 a.m. this morning, the team knew that it was time for weeks of electrical gremlins to either show themselves again, or to have finally sorted out the complete electrical system. Some team members, having worked through the night, looked fitter than others, but morale was very high. After what this team has been through, truly no problem cannot be solved.

Arriving at the Northern Territory Parliament building, we first hit solar traffic at 5.30 a.m., it was a sign of things to come. Race fever instantly hit our vanes, and it simply couldn’t be stopped. Our official race start was planned at 8:04 and lined up in the second row in front of a crowd that encompassed the whole square, we started up the car at 7:45 with no problems. Shortly before we were to leave, we noticed that a familiar electrical problem emerged from our motor controller, having always presented itself at high temperatures in excess of 70 degrees the team thought falsely that this was an overheating issue. The first cars had already left the grid and the team was left with a Nuna that simply wouldn’t move. After informing the race organization that we were having technical difficulties and would not meet our departure slot, in accordance with the race regulations, we luckily were afforded a time credit equal to the amount of our lost start time since we notified the organization such an early state. Both Paul, Vincent, and Gert hastily set to work replacing the motor controller. Twenty-Seven solar cars left ahead of the Nuna, in a late, embarrassing, and troubled start.

Our start however, was not a sign of the things to come. Nuna performed flawlessly, overtaking two-third of the other solar cars before the first media stop in Katherine, a 320km leg. Overtaking maneuvers sometimes proved more harrowing than others, but Nuna made truly impressive time. Some contestants proved luckier than others, having received reports of accidents amongst other teams, we hope that everyone is alright and safe tonight.

From our current position, we can be nothing but happy with our achievements today. Having caught up with the leading Belgian Umicore team and narrowly passing Aurora before having been required to stop for the day. Nuon Solar Team “holiday village” has been set up, with the semi-truck’s container serving as “nerve central” with all the Christmas lights, and lawn chairs you could expect from a truly happy camp in the middle of the outback. The film crew is working hard with their satellite link out to bring today’s excitement to Dutch television screens tonight at 23:15 on RTL4.

We can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds in store!

Nuon: Nuon Solar Team files formal protest against participant

The Nuon Solar Team has filed a formal protest against the University of Michigan's Contiuum vehicle entry in the Challenge Class of this year's Panasonic World Solar Challenge. Specifically, the Nuon Solar Team believes that this vehicle is in violation of this year's 6 square meter active solar cell area requirement for the Challenge class and the unclear rules for this regulation. The Nuon Solar Team is supported in this protest.

The protest in particular concerns the "shingling" of solar cells, which is a technique in which solar cells are placed on top of each other in a shingling fashion in order to increase the total watts delivered per square meter. It appears that the shingling extent may approach 30% per cell on some of Continuum's array.

In an email, quoted with permission in the protest, a team involved in the protests asks the regulators for this year's Challenge a question concerning this very subject:

"If the solar cells are shingled, does the lower layer which is overlapped by another cell count as active area? (organization's response...)"Yes, as the regulation says the total is the sum of the active areas."

It is understood that the Contiuum vehicle received special dispensation on this issue, and our protest concerns why other teams were also not afforded this same special dispensation. This is not an affront to the University of Michigan team, rather it is based on the premise of equal competition embodied in the race's regulations. We believe that clarification of this matter will greatly benefit this event.

We hope as a team that this issue is resolved quickly and judiciously. The team has a verbal, and soon to be written, confirmation that all race results are preliminary until a judgement is reached on this issue.

Nuon: Nuon Solar Team places third in class for start tomorrow

The Nuna4 placed a time 1.08 seconds behind pole position to be placed third in line in its class for the start tomorrow morning. First in line out of the challenge class for departure is Umicore's Umicar Infinity, while Aurora's Aurora 101 will be placed second. The team is very pleased with this time, and represents a new record in qualifying placement for Nunas. Other teams had extensive track time and weeks of practicing at Hidden Valley Race Track, making Nuna's placement within almost a second of the leading cars all the more remarkable with only 7 practice laps.

Nuna4 coureur Oliver van der Meer verovert de 3de startpositie tijdens de kwalificatie voor de World Solar Challenge 2007 op "Hidden Valley Race Track"

The race regulations stipulate that cars will be dispensed after the pole position in 1 minute intervals. Nuna has 4 cars ahead of her (two cars, TIGA (1st overall) and Aurum (4th overall) respectively) which means she will be allowed to leave the gates at exactly 8:04 a.m.. This also provides a significant strategic advantage as the first 10 stop lights have been placed on green for exactly 10 minutes after the 8:00 a.m. start.

The team is ready to go, and excited about the race. We would like to wish our competitors a very safe and trouble free journey, thank the unwavering support of our sponsors, and the valued support of our fans. For the fans back in Holland, the first race episode will aire on RTL 7 tonight at 20:10.

For rest... winner buys in Adelaide! ...(So for the ABN AMRO, please raise our credit card limit!!)

Nuon: Nuna on the eve of qualifying

After several weeks of testing, Nuna has passed its major test to participate in this year's World Solar Challenge. Having received no other comments other than headlights that could have been larger, this year's scruitineering was passed without dramas. Over 2,000 kilometers have passed beneath Nuna's tires, and the time has come for qualifying to determine our race position for the race's start on Sunday morning.

Our first few practice laps were run on Wednesday afternoon. It quickly became apparently Nuna4 was a little more "frisky" than previous Nunas, completeing the trial runs a full 30 seconds faster than Nuna3 and having plently left to spare. Our Michelin slicks bore the punishiment without a complaint, but were reduced to canvas after only 7 laps.

It will prove to be a very exciting day tomorrow, as we hope to better our previous qualifying placements, and will face the race's start on Sunday. Everything is racing race steady state, having gathered all our support vehicles (15 in total with semi-truck), along with our hearty and familiar support crew, the Nuna3 team accompanied by Wubbo Ockels. We face the race with full confidence and a fantastic team spirit. We fully expect this Nuna to live up to its expectations and be a seriously fast racing machine.

Nuon: Scruteneering: passed!

We moesten er vroeg voor opstaan, maar dan krijg je ook wat. Vanmorgen om 7u stonden we weer bij onze vertrouwde "shed", om Nuna op de trailer te laden en naar Darwin Showgrounds te transporteren. Daar zou ze aan Scruteneering worden ontworpen, door de wedstrijdleiding van de World Solar Challenge.

Nuna werd gewogen, gemeten, zonnecelletjes werden geteld om hun totale oppervlakte te berekenen, batterijen werden verzegeld, het zicht vanuit de achteruitrijcamera gecheckt. Ook de coureurs werden uitgebreid aan onderzoek onderworpen. Ze werden onder andere gewogen en hun gewicht werd tot 80kg aangevuld met zakjes grind, die als ballast nog een plekje in Nuna zullen krijgen. Ze moesten ook aantonen dat ze binnen 15 seconden en zonder assistentie, de wagen kunnen in- en uitstappen.

Verder heeft Nuna vandaag door elektronicaproblemen weer meer stilgestaan dan kilometers afgelegd, maar daar wordt op dit moment (midden in de nacht) nog uitgebreid aan gewerkt! We hopen morgen op de Arnhem Highway nog meer kilometers te kunnen vreten, zodat de betrouwbaarheid van het systeem aangetoond kan worden, en we zaterdag een mooie kwalificatietijd kunnen neerzetten!