October 23, 2007 –SINAG, the Philippines’ first fully-functional solar car and the country’s first entry to the prestigious World Solar Challenge, is just 400km away from the halfway point on its historic 3,000km journey across Australia. Since the start of the Challenge, SINAG has jumped to 11th place and continues to maintain this lead as it makes its way to Alice Springs, the course’s halfway point.
According to SINAG’s technical personnel, the solar car has been performing better than expected since the start of the race on October 21, Sunday. SINAG was easily able to surpass the 1,000km mark without needing to rely on auxiliary power –an option which, although allowed by contest rules, would result in a reduction of the team’s overall score.
The team has also managed to correct a minor problem with SINAG’s brake system which was causing the car’s tires to wear out faster than expected, prompting frequent tire changes. Since then, Team SINAG has experienced no further major technical difficulties and has more than made up for lost time.
Team SINAG will be stopping over for the night between Tennant Creek and Wauchope, but is anticipated to reach Alice Springs well before the 5pm deadline tomorrow, Oct. 24, Wednesday.
The SINAG solar car was designed and built by a group of dedicated faculty and students from the Mechanical Engineering and the Electronics and Communications Engineering Departments of De La Salle University –Manila, with the support of Ford Group Philippines, Motolite, Philippine Airlines, San Miguel Corporation, Shell, SunPower, U-Freight, and Ventus. The project is also supported by Aurora, Cabrera Lavadia and Associates, JWT, CreAsia, Merritt Partners, Tuason Racing School, Gochermann Solar Technology, and Stratworks.
***pcc,sw
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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