Sun power race cars at the ready in Australia’s Top End

ABC NEWS (Australia)

It's a race that relies on the rays of the sun and the staying power of competitors. The World Solar Challenge this year will see almost 40 sun-powered cars race from the top to the bottom of Australia. The teams have begun arriving in Darwin and are readying for the starter's gun on Sunday.

Transcript

00:00The world's budding solar scientists are gearing up to race all the way from Darwin to Adelaide

00:07in these sun-powered vehicles.

00:09Before we were just a team by ourselves in the north of the Netherlands,

00:12and now we're surrounded by so many other teams,

00:14people who have suffered kind of the same way we've suffered, the long hours, the long days.

00:18This year's World Solar Challenge has attracted 37 teams,

00:22from Australia and all the way from South Korea to Estonia and the United States.

00:27While many teams come from universities, others, like this South Australian team,

00:31include high schoolers alongside full-time engineers.

00:35The challenge is to build something at a price that's affordable as well,

00:39but using, I guess, techniques and helping the young people to learn.

00:43The teams will need speed to take home the trophy,

00:46along with a finely tuned mix of maths and science, and some skilled driving.

00:51They give me all the information, all the different speeds I need to drive,

00:55and I just execute the tasks that are given to me.

00:59Careful attention and a dose of road safety is also required.

01:03We're sharing the roads not only with the world's best,

01:05we're also sharing the roads with working road trains up to 63 metres long,

01:09navigating cattle grids, roadkill.

01:11And while glory is the goal,

01:13competitors say sharing the road is a special experience of its own.

01:17It's really inspiring because, you know, we nerd out for a very specific kind of topic,

01:22and now we've got others who can relate.

01:25The challenge kicks off on Sunday, and there are high hopes for sunny days ahead.

01:29We'll see you in the next few minutes.

01:31We'll see you in the next few minutes.

01:35We'll see you in the next few minutes.

01:39Take care.

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