UA Solar Race Team Finishes Grueling 2,400-Mile Race
UA Solar Car Drifter 2.0 takes a break from the race in green pastures.
The awards ceremony is in Calgary on Wednesday and the team will be back in Tucson on Saturday.
The University of Arizona solar racing team finished the final segment of the American Solar Challenge to complete the 2,400-mile race from Plano, Texas, to Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Official race times and standings will be announced during the awards celebration on Wednesday but in an impressive feat, considering the experience and funding of others in the competition, the UA was able finish in 10th place.
Tuesday's final stretch of the race began with 15 teams racing 180 miles from Medicine Hat, Alberta, to the finish line in Calgary. The previous leg – 299 miles from Regina, Saskatchewan, to Medicine Hat – was the longest of the race and truly tested the team and the car, Drifter 2.0.
Team member Wei-Ren Ng wrote on the team blog, “Our battery pack could not hold its potential with the extreme terrain going up the Rockies toward Medicine Hat.”
The weather forecast was mostly sunny for the last leg of the race. Team member Arshed Al-Obeidi, an honors student, was upbeat about the team’s performance. “We decided to take advantage of the ideal conditions and run hard and fast.”
More than 30,000 solar race fans gathered to welcome the teams at the finish line.
The UA solar race team was one of only 15 teams from the 24 entrants that qualified for the race after passing a series of inspections.
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- Contact Info
Peter Brown
UA College of Engineering
520-621-3754
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