OCt. 27, 2007 - Road to the Finish Line

As of 10:30 AM (Australian Time or 9:30 AM Manila), Sinag has passed the last control stop on its way to Adelaide. Team Sinag is less than 300 kms away from Adelaide. As of last count this morning from the WSC blog, SINAG is at the 20th position overall and is somewhere between 10th and 11th place in the Challenger class.

We expect SINAG to cross the finish line today by 4 PM Adelaide Time (5 Pm manila time). Go SINAG. Note that the positions given are unofficial and does not include time penalties incurred by all the teams during the race.

Dennis

October 25, 2007, Cadney Homestead, Australia

1,000 km to go for Sinag Team

SINAG, the Philippines' first fully-functional solar car has breached the 2,000 km distance from Darwin to Cadney Homestead today, passing Alice Springs, the halfway point of the 3,000 km. stretch of the World Solar Challenge. Since the start of the Challenge, SINAG has jumped to 11th place and continues to maintain this lead in the Challenge Class of the race, which has about 40 participants.


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 1,000 km 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.


"We are making good time so we can make it to Adelaide by Saturday or early Sunday morning," said lead driver Eric Tan. "We just need to reach the next designated control stops before the deadline in order for us to be able to continue to race. Missing two control stops will disqualify us." Tomorrow, SINAG will make its ways to the last two control centers in Glen Dambo and Port Augusta, before the finish line in Adelaide.

Despite its good showing, the team remains cautiously optimistic of its chances of finishing the prestigious race. For certain, the De La Salle University-Manila students already feel triumphant the solar car they have built from scratch is performing better than the other entrants from other countries. "Whether or not we finish this race, we feel we've already accomplished our goal of building a working solar car and letting people at home know that solar power is a viable and reliable source of energy," said Robert Obiles, student team leader. "Plus, this has been one great big adventure." he added.

It's not everyday that Filipino mechanical engineering students get to race and camp out in the outbacks of Australia. the Filipino team was especially elated upon passing Ayers' Rock, one of the most popular natural landmarks in the Australian continent.


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.

Day 4 (Oct. 24, 2007) World Solar Car Challange Results

Photo taken by Jong Jimenez from Sunpower in Australia

Sinag has reached Alice Springs earlier than expected and left for Adelaide by 2:46 PM Australian Time today.

According to WSC Day 4 Provisional results, Sinag climbed to 21st placed from 27th place yesterday among 37 racers. It has maintained its 11th place within the challenge class.

Sinag has travelled approximately 500 kms today. The most travelled by our team in a day. From my estimate, Sinag seems to be doing better and is poised to break into the top 10 in the challenge class(barring any technical problems).

Looks like the team has decided to skip staying longer in Alice Springs (as initially planned) and pushed themselves to the finish line in Adelaide. The team has been on the road since Sunday and has camped outdoors since then.

Dennis - DLSU-Manila

October 23, 2007: SINAG Approaches Halfway Mark at 11th Place

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

Day 2 of the WSC Race (challenger class)

Sinag has passed the second control stop at Dunmarra and has travelled at least 633 kilometers using the power of the sun.

10 cars have already been trailered to the control stop. Sinag is not one of them. As of today, Sinag is at the 29th place out of 37 cars (includes the trailered cars).

All racers are expected to reach Alice Springs by tomorrow. Alice Springs is two control stops away from the current position of Sinag. The team is expected to pass Tennant Creek and into Alice Springs.

Sinag has to travel approximately another 600 kms tomorrow to Alice Springs.

Information presented here were collected from the WCS website.
http://worldsolarchallenge.blogspot.com/search/label/Results

Dennis Beng Hui-DLSU Manila (Comm Team)

Day 1 of the WSC Race (challenger class)

According to the information from the WSC site, Team Sinag started the race at 35th (Challenger and Adventure Class combined)position on Oct.21, 2007 at 8:34 AM.

Sinag has passed the Katherine Control Stop (1st control stop)at 4:12 PM is at 21st position based on the control stop reports in Katherine and Dunmarra.

From WSC, "For many the 316 km between Darwin and the Katharine Control Stop are the hardest in the whole event. The leaders are usually through Katherine by lunchtime on day 1, while others don't make it!"

As of latest report from WSC blogs, at least 3 teams have already encountered major or minor accidents (one of which is among the lead teams).

For more information on media releases by WSC, go to http://wsc.org.au/Media.Centre/Releases/index.html

For the route maps and control stop go to http://wsc.org.au/Be.Part.of.It/Maps.Routes/map.html

Godspeed Team Sinag.

Dennis Beng Hui - DLSU

Team SINAG in Australian Radio

Team Sinag has made a name on the Australian airwaves when it guested today at Radio Larrakia 94.5FM in Darwin, Australia. Three members of the team, namely Prof. Rene Fernandez, Prince Ang and Kaiser Fernandez, were interviewed by Filipino anchor Judith Ventic in her weekly program "Radyo Filipino," aired over different towns and cities across the Northern Territory.

"We are happy to inform the entire Filipino community here in Australia that the Philippines is very much ready for the 20th World Solar Challenge," said Prof. Fernandez.

Asked about the country's chances in winning the race, Kaiser told radio listeners that it is not all about winning for the Philippine Team. "Passing the scrutineering tomorrow and making it into the race from Darwin to Adelaide are the goals that we have right now," he said.

The team was also given the opportunity to invite members of the Filipino community in Darwin to witness and show their support at the opening of the race on Sunday, October 21 at the Parliament House area near the Esplanade.

"We all hope for your support by waving the Philippine flag on Sunday. We hope to see you there!," Prince Ang said.

Originally posted by SINAG@WSC @ 5:50 AM (THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2007)