Solar cars race from Australia's top to bottom

[jpak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSSYD1432920071021

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Sun-powered-car enthusiasts from around the world raced into the Australia outback on Sunday at speeds nearing 100 kilometres-per-hour at the start of the World Solar Challenge.

Thousands of onlookers crowded the streets of Darwin in Australia's tropical north for the beginning of the 3,000-km (1,863 mile) race, a biennial event since 1987, gawking at the sleek foil-like vehicles resembling giant microchips.

The only rule over the mostly straightaway course through Australia's "red centre" in temperatures that can exceed 50 degrees Celsius is that the custom-built vehicles run on nothing but the sun.

"The drivers will be sitting on between 90 and 100 kilometres per hour as much as they can, though most are capable of going faster," said race coordinator Chris Selwood.

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[TNDemo]

1. And the real shame is that there is no longer a US race.

My son worked his tail off in college designing, building, raising funds to build a solar car from the ground up, raced it in two of the solar challenges, 2003 and 2005, and now the Department of Energy has pulled its funding after all these years and so to race they would have to go to Australia. I guess they need to throw more money to Iraq and these great programs have been ditched.