 |
By Richard King
U.S. Department of Energy |
|
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., July 17, 2003 - As the race goes on, the speed of the solar cars is increasing. Much of the route between Amarillo, Texas, and Albuquerque, N.M., is open and flat with fewer stop signs. There also are long stretches where cars have to use Interstate 40, where the speed limit is 65 mph. The University of Missouri-Rolla was maintaining 65 mph on the flats and downhills and 55 mph on the uphills. In fact, the team claims their solar car can go faster than 65 mph on flat roads.
Missouri-Rolla reached Albuquerque at 1:49 p.m. MDT, almost five hours ahead of the winning pace set by the University of Michigan in 2001. They are flying. Principia College arrived second at 4:34 p.m., also beating Michigan's time from the last race. The University of Minnesota arrived at 5:06 p.m. in third, and essentially tied Michigan's mark.
The rest of the teams are really spread out now. Western Michigan University (WMU) and Queens University are about 30 miles out of Albuquerque. They should arrive at the staging area on the University of New Mexico campus around 9 a.m. tomorrow (Friday).
These are the arrival times earlier in the day at the Tucumcari checkpoint, which is between Amarillo and Albuquerque:
| Rolla | 9:43 a.m. (central time) |
| Principia | 12:04 p.m. |
| Minnesota | 12:06 p.m. |
| Queens | 12:13 p.m. |
| WMU | 12:27 p.m. |
| Columbia | 1:45 p.m. |
| Waterloo | 2:07 p.m. |
| Kansas State | 6:07 p.m. |
All the other teams are somewhere between Amarillo and Tucumcari.
Please visit the standings page for more complete results.
 |
| Photo contributed by Richard King |
| A group of children from an Amarillo day-care center watch the Principia College team inspect their vehicle on Thursday morning. |
The Missouri-Rolla team not only designed and built a fast car, they run a smart race. Each evening after racing, the students meticulously inspect each weld joint, nut, hinge, rod end, plug and wire for wear and tear. Last evening in Amarillo they found a crack in a joint in their front suspension, so they looked around town until they found a shop to weld the joint.
The Principia College team is very excited to be doing so well. In all their years of solar racing they have never been in the top 10, much less second place at a checkpoint. This morning at the Amarillo checkpoint a young group of children from a nearby day-care center came out to see the solar cars. The Principia students sat down with them in front of their car and explained how the car works and answered the many questions the children asked. Even though the team members had a lot of work to do, they took the time to answer all the questions. When it came time to leave, the children all cheered their new friends and wished them well.
Tomorrow I expect five to 10 additional teams to reach Albuquerque. Then on Saturday the rest of the teams will have to reach Albuquerque or be forced to trailer. On Sunday morning all the teams will start the third leg to Barstow, California as a group.
REPORTS FROM THE ROAD
|
