At 9.30 (Darwin time) this morning, officials checked whether the Red One complies with the regulations of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (BWSC). Red One was exposed to a lot of officials from the BWSC and also other competing teams. All parts of the Red One were thoroughly checked during this ‘scrutineering’. It turned out that Red One needs a few more minor adaptions. If we follow up on that correctly, we are getting the sign ‘Red one GO’ later this week.
A large part of the other teams also were up for inspection today, needed to start next Sunday. When we entered the big hall, a loud applause rose from the spectators at the balcony. A big encourage for our scrutineering, that took about four hours and contained seven different examination stations. At each station, the officials had a 30-minute time. In the one case, the time was filled with discussion, for example about the horn that is not loud enough or the driver’s ballast that still lies around in the car. In the other case, the time was filled with wonder, for example, about our electric system and the associated battery pack. They thought it was very structured! In addition, 3 officials were lying on the ground to watch our solar array and to admire SABINE.
Lot of attention
During the moments Red One can or will not drive, the team puts the car and solar array in a square angle to the sun. In previous years, we placed the solar array on a mobile array standard. At this edition, all parts have to fit in an imaginary box. This means the array and underbody stay closely together. This so-called charging configuration was also controlled. A lot of other teams and photographers gathered around our solar car when we titled the array. The exposed mirror set-up led to surprised and disappointed faces at other teams. The mirror is placed between the underbody and array and leads to sunlight reflection on the array, so more energy revenue.
Take a look at the illustration below to see what the others encountered (click to enlarge):
And now?
After the last few changes this week to the Red One, the next big event in preparation for the World Solar Challenge will take place this Saturday, which is the dynamic scrutineering and qualification. Both will take place on the Hidden Valley motor sports circuit and will determine the capability of the car during driving. It will also be determined then from which place the Red One will start.
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