Thursday 6 October and Friday 7 October the entire team will take part in another race simulation. But instead of using the rainy air base Deelen in the Netherlands, we will be on the sunny Cox Peninsula Road. On those days we will imitate the circumstances during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. The preparations are in full swing. One of them is building the ‘convoy’.

What is a convoy?

Infographic_konvooi_solar_team_twenteBesides driving with Red One, there are a lot of other things that need to be arranged. 37 team members are involved. This entire group has to be transported and the members have to be able to communicate amongst each other. That is why we have another ten vehicles at our disposal. All vehicles are equipped with UHF radios and walkie-talkies and a splash of red wrap on the outside. That is how both our own members and those from other teams can tell us apart from everyone else!

Within the convoy there is another specific group: the race convoy. In order of driving, this group consists of the DMU, Red One and the Escort. During the race this trinity should not be interrupted by our other cars or cars from other teams.

The rules during the challenge
The Challenge takes place on a public highway: The Stuart Highway. It is the only and very desolate road that runs right through the middle of Australia. This means that we also have to take ‘normal’ road users into account. Think of cyclists, pickups and road trains up to 35 metres long roaring past. Apart from that we also have to stick to the maximum speed. The speed limit in the north is 130km/h and down south it is 110km/h. And in the villages it is even less of course. An Observer from the organization will be with every team to keep them in check. If, for example, one team’s media car is in the way of other road users, then that team will have minutes added to their time as a penalty.

In other words, it is not just Red One with its driver driving the race, it is in fact 11 cars carrying 37 team members! Curious to see how all of us will perform during the challenge? Follow us on FacebookTwitterInstagram,  Red News and of course our website.

Translated by ManpowerGroup Solutions-Language Services