Chemical Technology October 2016

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28 Chemical Technology • October 2016
The V&A Waterfront in Cape Town was
the scene of celebration on the 1st of
October 2016 as 11 teams from all
over the world crossed the finish line
after successfully driving just over
27 000 km collectively on public roads
on solar power alone.
Dutch team Nuon won the Chal-
lenger class after completing 4 716 km,
breaking the four-year old record of
4 630 km and beating Japanese team
Tokai by 172 km. “We’re really excited –
we already started celebrating in traffic
as we came into Cape Town when we
suddenly realised that we’d won. The
team that is here has been working
on the car for years, so they were very
emotional,” said Sarah Bennink Bolt
from the Nuon team.
The Dutch team had to have a per-
fect day today to stay ahead of strong
competitor Tokai, who set the record
in 2012 and won the World Solar
Challenge on numerous occasions in
the past.
“Tokai was really good last year in
Australia at the World Solar Challenge,
and while a lot of people thought we
were a shoe-in for the Sasol Solar Chal-
lenge in South Africa, it wasn’t obvious
to us,” continued Bennink Bolt. “We
had to work incredibly hard to beat
them – they came out strong this year.”
With new regulations set for the
global competition, all the teams will
use the South African event to build
completely new vehicles for the 2017
challenge in Australia, which is shorter
than the Sasol Solar Challenge.
In South Africa, five teams held their
own against the tough international
competition. North-West University
came in fourth position with 3 524 km
under their belt, and high school team
Maragon Olympus managed to beat
the University of Johannesburg by just
40 km.
“We are very proud of the fact
that Sirius x25, the NWU solar car,
travelled through the whole of South
Africa without ever once being put on
a trailer,” said Jimmy Pressly from the
NWU team. “The competition was great,
and representing South Africa like this
was a privilege. We plan on keeping
the flag flying high by competing in the
Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in
2017 with a brand new, better car.”
North-West University had to work
hard to come back from an accident
during track testing just before the
Challenge began. But the 28-member
team worked long hours, beating two
international and four South African
teams on the event.
Another incredible achievement on
the 2016 Sasol Solar Challenge was
celebrated when high school team
Maragon Olympus crossed the finish
line in seventh place narrowly beating
the University of Johannesburg.
For the Sasol Solar Challenge, a new
record has been set, and teams are
already planning their return in 2018
to improve on today’s achievement.
The Sasol Solar Challenge director,
Winstone Jordaan, said that this has
been the most competitive event to
date.
The 2016 Sasol Solar Challenge
is sponsored by Sasol as a vehicle of
inspiration to young South Africans to
become the country’s future engineers
and scientists.
For more information contact Anzet du
Plessis on tel: 0835572322; or email
INNOVATIONETCETERA
Solar cars cross the finish line as records tumble