SolarFox: Fourth day's racing

Fortunately, the good weather returned as the team set their sights on the significant target of Alice Springs - not just because it represented the halfway mark of the race but also because the Dean of Engineering at UCL had carelessly promised a bottle of whiskey to the team should they reach Alice Springs. The fine weather helped make up for lost ground the day before and despite a steep and twisting section of the Stuart Highway, the team made their target by the end of the day's racing, once again holding onto their 10th placing in the Challenge Class.

SolarFox: Third day's racing

Day three was the start of further rough weather and this time we were in the middle of it. 30km/h head winds, low cloud and showers reduced our average speed and made driving tricky. At crusing speed, roughly 60-70% of the total resistance to SolarFox's forward motion is aerodynamic drag and so a headwind of 30km/h can drop the cruise speed by around 20km/h, which is very significant. As a result, we didn't manage to cover as much ground as on previous days. However, we reached the control stop at Tennant Creek 987km from Darwin and a third of the way to Adelaide, at 13:20 and made further progress that afternoon to eventually stop to camp at Wycliffe Well for a night in the jungle.

SolarFox: Second day's racing

SolarFox, like all the solar cars competing, has a battery pack on board to help even out the peaks and troughs in supply and demand of power throughout the race. We are allowed to carry 30kg of Lithium-polymer/ion cells (which have very high energy capacity for their weight and so are often used in laptops and mobile phones). The car starts the race with the cells fully charged but once started, can only top them up using the solar array (A race organiser travels with each team and has to sleep with the batteries in case anyone attempts to charge them using illegal means). The team can use the power stragecially, and this is what we did on the first day of racing - consuming 50% of their charge to push us ahead of a weather system that was producing storms and high cloud levels around Darwin. This call fortunately has paid back because on day 2 we entered much clearer weather and were able to run on solar power alone (leaving the battery at 50% charge). We made the Dunmarra control stop (633 km from Darwin) at 14:04, and pitched camp for the night just south of Elliott. The day's running, despite not needing to dip into our valuable battery reserves of power had kept us in our middle field position 10th in the Challenge Class.

SolarFox: First day's racing

SolarFox started 17th from the grid and cruised out of Darwin with 3000km of the Stuart Highway stretched out in front of them. Once the outskirts of town had been cleared, the first major test for the team was Hayes Creek Hill. A steep gradient is a real challenge for the car to climb because of the short term high power output required (the car is optimised for high efficiency and endurance which is a constant relatively low power output). Fortunately, we passed our first test and continued south towards the first timing checkpoint at Katherine (approximately 300km into the race). This gave us our second indication of our competitive positioning: within the Challenge class, we were now placed 9th. The place we gained over qualifying was due to a tragic accident involving Continuum, the University of Michigan car, which hit its support car after a sudden stop. Fortunately, the damage was not too serious and we hear that the team have since managed to repair the vehicle and are catching back up with the fleet.

In total, the first day's running saw us achieve 418 km towards our Adelaide target with no major technical problems. High cloud restricted the output from the solar array, which is reassuring as it means that there should be further performance available once we start to get clear sun running days.

SolarFox: SolarFox qualifies for WSC

Scrutineering is the process of assessing the safety of the vehicle, and also ensures that the vehicle satisfies the racing regulations for the Challenge class. Friday morning saw SolarFox first in the queue for the organiser's fastidious assessment of the cars structure, electrical safety and crash worthiness. Major rework could have removed the team from the competition, but thanks to continuous attention to detail through design and manufacture, the only thing required to secure the car's entry was an additional pinch bolt on the steering system. Relieved, the team collected their Australian license plate - the first to do so for WSC 2007.

Next came the dynamic test, to establish the relative performance of the cars and determine in what sequence they should start - to avoid excessive overtaking out of Darwin. Again, team SolarFox demonstrated their eagreness and were first on the track laying down the gauntlet to the other teams with a scorching average speed for a lap of the Darwin test track of 65.61km/h - set by the team's Michael Schumacher - Alexander Karyotakis. This eventually placed the car 17th out of the total field of 38 vehicles, qualifying above many of the adventure class vehicles which have both larger solar arrays and more streamlined aerodynamics.

SolarFox: Reportage from the track

Further testing has been carried out in Darwin this week. A handling problem caused by damage to the steering knuckles during transportation resulted in severe wear to the tyres. Whilst the problem is now resolved thanks to some nifty realignment work by John and Ray, the severe wear has degraded our race stock of tyres, so now we are trying to find a few spares. Thanks to team member Dave, we have a video showing the team working in the garage at Hidden Valley:

Endurance testing has been undertaken at the track, to see how the team handle the local weather and so far an hour squashed into the solar oven has been accomplished without much complaint. In the meantime, speeds have been cranked up to break the significant 100km/h barrier.

Whilst that isn't the speed achieved in this video, it does show how the beautifully designed chassis handles the bends at Hidden Valley, what a pity the Stuart Highway is so straight...

SolarFox: First tests in the sun

With SolarFox reassembled, the team got down to some tests. Using the new lightweight "anti-slop" bearing housings, speeds were gradually increased up to a giddy 90km/h.

Despite their hard work, the team still had time to collect video footage of the car. Here is SolarFox leaving the pit garage:

Here is SolarFox on track at Hidden Valley:

Speed trials, reliability testing and system fine tuning will continue as the team work towards scrutineering this Friday when they will be told whether they pass the regulations to enter the race.

SolarFox: Arrival and assembly in Darwin

Solarfox arrived ahead of schedule in Darwin on Friday morning and was soon offloaded and unpacked, with all items apparently intact. This timely and safe arrival is predominantly down to the expert logitics planning and execution by Anne Stevens of CT Freight UK.

Reunited with their favourite solar car, the team got to work reassembling the car, including mounting the roll bar that had to be removed for transit.

This provided the team with their first experience of running with the wheel fairings in place, which will be used to reduce the aerodynamic drag of the front wheels.

SolarFox: Supports Great Ormond Street

The SolarFox team has decided to add an extra dimension to their World Solar Challenge efforts by raising money for charity. Our chosen charity is Great Ormond Street, a childrens hospital which has special meaning for team members Richard and Nicki, whose son Barnaby was looked after there. Barnaby's skills were an invaluable asset throughout the build and testing process, as demonstrated in the photo, and the team are very grateful for his suggestion of the use of his school playground for preliminary testing.

Anyone wishing to contribute to our fundraising efforts should go to www.justgiving.com/teamsolarfox

SolarFox: Arrives at Hidden Valley, Darwin

The team and the car are finally reunited on the otherside of the world. Early reports are that despite the tight fit of the packing box, no major damage has been sustained en route.

Now the work really begins as the team get the car ready for scrutineering and perform the final tests ready for the race

SolarFox: Goes Trucking

After a decompressor failure at Heathrow led to SolarFox holding up and then missing the Thursday night flight, nerves were calmed with the news that the box had been successfully delivered to Melbourne last weekend.

Despite the wariness with which any country's customs officials now view imports from the UK, SolarFox was deemed not to be a carrier of Blue Tongue or Foot and Mouth, and allowed through quarantine without too much delay. The box is now travelling north on the back of a truck hoping to set a new record for the non-solar-powered-truck transit of Australia, and should join the team who are now installed in their luxury Darwin accommodation by Friday 12th October.

In the meantime, the team can do nothing but try and keep cool in their new climate, whilst trying not to eat so much ice cream they no longer qualify below the 80kg min weight driver limit.