The RED Engine left the control post at Ti Tree this morning at 8:17AM, about 30 minutes ahead of team Stanford in fourth place. At about 10:30AM, The RED Engine reached the control post in Alice Springs, the second largest settlement in the Northern Territory. Here it turned out that Solar Team Twente has increased their lead on Stanford to 36 minutes, while it was about an hour behind the team in pole position. The ride to the next control post in Kulgera was relatively short, but the team managed to add another four minutes to their lead on the number 4, who arrived 40 minutes later. After leaving the control post in Kulgera, The RED Engine drove another 181 kilometres in 2 hours before stopping to set up camp on the roadside in Southern Australia.

In the coming days, the weather is expected to turn for the worse. Solar Team Twente has prepared for this: “Because of our car’s shape, we expect to be hindered less by sidewinds”, states racing leader Jelle Wagenvoort.

Today was the first day on which Solar Team Twente did not set up camp at a control post. Because of this, the team will have to camp in the Australian Outback, a vast and mostly empty area in the middle of the continent. The team will set up four large tents and a couple of small ones to protect the car and the team members against the elements. Racing driver Cindy Clevers states: “Here in the Outback, it is completely deserted. There is absolutely nothing, except for a couple of thousands of flies…”