At the start line

At 8am it is hot and sunny at the start of the race. The cars are all lined up in qualifying order. Infinium is the 6th car in line and will start at 8:35am with Sudeep at the wheel. The scene is energetic. A band plays in the background as people pass by and look at the many different car designs. The croud is a mix of media, curious Darwin locals, parents, and fans of the teams. The parking lot is full of excited chatter in many different languages. It is hard to believe that it has been two years since Continuum's race in the 2007 World Solar Challenge. The Infinium team members have spent countless hours and made so many sacrifices. All for this day. Thank you to all of our sponsors, parents, friends, fans, and all the Infinium team members in Ann Arbor. It takes a huge amount of support to arrive at the start line. We are looking forward to making you proud. Thank you also to the fans that made the trip all the way to Darwin to follow the team during the race. Your enthusiastic spirit has been with us all week. Singing Hail to the Victors yesterday wouldn't have been Big House worthy without our 24-strong cheering squad! Go Fast. Go Smooth. GO BLUE!

Comments

I've got a slideshow of the
I've got a slideshow of the flag-off in Darwin on 25 Oct 2009. Pls visit: http://m.naim.my/global-green-challenge-2009-slideshow-of-darwin-flag-off/ THANKS!
Found this link it has a few
Found this link it has a few pictures from the start http://www.awesomeaustralianadventure.com/2009/10/25/the-race-is-on/
Okay, a control stop is 30
Okay, a control stop is 30 minutes, nicht wahr? So, the first teams should be leaving Katherine by now.
Dunmarra is 633 km from
Dunmarra is 633 km from Darwin, 315 from Katherine. The first four teams should be able to make it before the end of today's racing.
Looks like we overtook Nuna
Looks like we overtook Nuna http://twitpic.com/mtwx8
"Looks like we OVERTOOK
"Looks like we OVERTOOK NUNA." Words to cherish.
http://twitpic.com/mu0hg Nuo
http://twitpic.com/mu0hg Nuon's in 4th, Michigan's in 3rd after control stop 1.
It says Tokai in 1st,
It says Tokai in 1st, Belgians (Umicore) 2nd, and Michigan 3rd. If so, what happened to Aurora? And did Umicore really move up from 9th to 2nd? That's a lot.
This just came over the wire
This just came over the wire from Nuon's twitter. Translated it reads: "Stopping to fix something to Panel. Zaten op de staart vd Belgen, nu weer ingehaald door Michigan Vd Belgians were on the tail, now overtaken by Michigan" !!!!! :-D
Yeah!!
Yeah!!
http://translate.google.com/t
Amazing off to a great
Amazing off to a great start!!. I don't have any new updates from the team, but I will post as soon as I get an update.
You beat me to the punch.
You beat me to the punch. Awesome news though!!!!!!!!!
We're 3 and 1/2 hours in.
We're 3 and 1/2 hours in. SOMEBODY should have reached Katherine by now. It's only 318 km (198 mi.). 57 mph average would put you there.
Real-time feed of WSC
Real-time feed of WSC 2009 http://twitter.com/solarcar
Thanks Furqan! I needed
Thanks Furqan! I needed another place to use that last bit of energy that was not already dedicated to looking at other sites!
Yes, I know your addiction.
Yes, I know your addiction. If you find any interesting feeds, let me know and I'll add them to the @solarcar Twitter feed...
What has happened to Brian
What has happened to Brian Ignaut i have not seen a recent post from you, i hope you have not gotten so pumped and excited that you have had a heart attack or something. TC Lambert, you keep your posts coming too, otherwise we may fear that you have been over excited as well
My brain (and my brian?)
My brain (and my brian?) would have exploded by now without gchat.
Brian and about a dozen SCT
Brian and about a dozen SCT alumni are having a constant chat about our predictions about status. We're all pretty excited, but still alive.
Invite me, too, please!
Invite me, too, please! lpankau@gmail.com Side note: One of my words in the captcha was 'annoying'. I chuckled.
Same here
Hey, invite
Hey, invite fnazeeri@gmail.com
We are trying to figure it
We are trying to figure it out but since none of us know anything about technology... give us a sec.
We are all in a Gmail chat
We are all in a Gmail chat talking about how frustrating it is waiting for updates...
Based on the tracker, I'd say
Based on the tracker, I'd say Prin either was or is down troubleshooting something... UM should be hitting checkpoint in the next 45 or so, which will give a good indication on pace.
Oh, there they go. Prin's
Oh, there they go. Prin's moving again. I'm gonna guess tire change.
Yeah, you're right,
Yeah, you're right, Principia's last two entries are right on top of each other. Good catch, Andy Berner.
Well, moving again... that's
Well, moving again... that's positive.
Yeah I see two of Prin's data
Yeah I see two of Prin's data points troublingly close together. I hope everything's alright.
Couple of tidbits from
Couple of tidbits from Cambridge's Twitter Feed (@cuerendeavour): - They have passed the Turkish team, Solarworld, Leeming, Willeton HS - They are being passed by some of the faster Adventure class cars like Aurora 99 - They had a close incident with the Goko, sounded like Goko pulled out right in front of the Endeavour team They should add that feed to the friendfeed page, they're updating pretty frequently.
Cambridge said the teams they
Cambridge said the teams they passed were "all stopped by the side of the road." Sounds like Officer Murphy is pulling over a few solar cars to enforce his law.
Okay, Google Maps says
Okay, Google Maps says Adelaide River is about 114 km from Darwin. The Spot Tracker showed Principia's Ra7 in Adelaide River at about 9:06 our time. They left Darwin at 7:11 our time. I get that makes an average speed of about 60 kph (~37 mph). Somebody want to double-check my math, please? That sounds pretty slow to me. I would expect the leaders to be in the 90 - 100 kph range, which would put them about 2/3 of the way to Katherine, the first Control Point.
As to whether there is road
As to whether there is road construction or not, Northern Territories Road Report Website shows nothing on Stuart Highway http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/roadreport/highway.jsp?name=Stuart%20Highway Your math is correct, they covered 114 km in 115 minutes, so thats about 60km. Maybe theres a log jam of teams on the road?
yeah, that's what I hate
yeah, that's what I hate about being stuck at home... dunno what's going on. Weather isn't the problem, so either everybody is stuck in bad traffic/construction or we're limping for some reason. We'll know when Nuon/Aurora/UM or whoever first hits the checkpoint sets a time.
You might enjoy this youtube
You might enjoy this youtube video of nuon5 qualifying, really gives a feel for the event. Its in Danish, but its still cool, you have to imagine Mighigan colors and fans instead of the Nuon fans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7R5IqWXKEo&feature=player_embedded or the Nuon web site http://www.nuonsolarteam.nl/nuna/
That is a beautiful video. I
That is a beautiful video. I like that Nuna5's canopy has a wing shape instead of a bubble shape. It makes it look fast. The videos about the crash and rebuilding are great, too. I got a little teary seeing that beautiful machine sitting all busted by the side of the road. Though it would make a truly heroic story, I still don't want them to win. Give somebody else a turn! Maybe car No. 2.
and there is a quick glimpse
and there is a quick glimpse of infinium coming in....
We're hovering over the
We're hovering over the computer also. But we are getting more info this time than we did 2 years ago. We were cluelessly driving down the Stuart Hwy while the Team was sitting in Darwin with a wrecked car. For the first couple days we kept calling back to the U.S. asking our other daughter to read the U of M blog and tell us what was going on.
Hi Supporters, The reason for
Hi Supporters, The reason for lack of updates is that Australia is a huge expanse of deserted land. Most of the towns that you see on the maps are a single gas station or hotel and perhaps one or two houses. I have just tried to phone the team and they are out of phone range. I will keep you posted with news as soon as i get anything new. Meantime keep hitting that refresh button.
Does anyone know if Michigan
Does anyone know if Michigan has the double secret GPS tracker this year too? If so, how do I get access?
if they posted on the blog
if they posted on the blog how to access, it wouldn't be double secret! that said, I want it too!!
BTW, I've set up a Google
BTW, I've set up a Google Group for UM SCT alumni...it's mostly 1990 and 1993 alumni and is used for networking/birthdays and the like but any team alumni can join http://groups.google.com/group/umsolarcar
The Spot tracker shows
The Spot tracker shows Principia past Coomalie Creek and Batchelor Road, which is your turn-off for Rum Jungle. (Still not making these names up.) Not quite to Tortilla Flats. (How is there a place called Tortilla Flats in Australia?) Gonna guess Infinium is between 5 and 20 miles ahead of that.
There's a Tortilla Flat
There's a Tortilla Flat (singular) in AZ.Not sure how one ended up in AUS. Also, hi everybody! Good to see Blue rolling again, but agree that being on this side of the WSC is aggravating.
Humpty Doo is still a
Humpty Doo is still a favorite of mine.
Last couple of points are a
Last couple of points are a little closer together than I'd like... I haven't seen the routebook, anybody know if there was construction on the way out of Darwin?
Go Blue!
Go Blue!
I guess.
I guess.
AHH so impatient... Why are
AHH so impatient... Why are they not just continually telling us what is going on. Its not like they have anything better to do...