Cambridge team crashes out of World Solar Challenge

Teardrop-shaped vehicle rolls during final pre-race tests and fails to start race

The Cambridge University Eco-Racing (CUER) withdrew its vehicle from the World Solar Challenge endurance race in Australia this weekend, after it rolled onto its side during final road-tests last week.

The 120kg Resolution vehicle was expected to be among the frontrunners to win the 3,000km race across the middle of Australia, from Darwin to Adelaide. Resolution has a distinctive teardrop shape that was developed using computation fluid dynamics software and wind tunnel testing. It also features innovative solar tracking plates that move to follow the path of the sun to optimise power collection.

The vehicle was tested at the Millbrook Proving Grounds in Bedfordshire and is constructed mostly from carbon fibre, runs on 1kW of power and has a range of around 800km. An in-depth look at the car and interview with the team can be read here.

The disappointing decision to not start the race was taken on Saturday and comes after two years of work by a team of 60 students, mainly from Cambridge University's Engineering Department.

A statement from CUER team manager Keno Mario-Ghae said: “While testing on a specially designated solar testing road in Australia, our car had an accident during which it rolled onto its side. The driver was unhurt. Over the following days, repairs were made to the structure of our car, to restore the safety cage around the driver. Further tests were then carried out under controlled conditions on track. This revealed new dynamic instabilities, which we have not been able to fix in the time we have left before the race.

“Due to the limited amount of time we have left to remedy our situation, we have not been able reassure ourselves of the safety of our solar drivers. Therefore, with great regret, we have decided to withdraw. The team is very disappointed but we are confident that we have made the right decision.”

Mario-Ghae added that, aside from the crash, Resolution had produced its best ever results while testing in Australia, and that the team would spend the remaining time in Australia “testing our innovative technology in the environment for which it was designed”.

He added: “Looking forward, the team will continue investigating the performance of Resolution in the UK, and use what we’ve learnt to build a race-winning vehicle in two years’ time.”