The Belgian Agoria Solar team of KU Leuven won the first stage of the Solar Morocco Challenge. Dutch teams from Twente, Delft and Groningen are second to fourth. The 2,500 km race lasts for five days.
from Blue Point Atlas From the Agoria Solar team Established the first stop From a distance of 475 km and 3900 meters vertical in 7 hours and about 22 minutes. Solar Team Twente’s RED Horizon arrived just over 17 minutes later. On Monday morning, the teams began the 2,500 kilometer solar race, which will last five days. In the first leg, the teams of the city of Agadir had to navigate through the traffic jam. In addition, the Belgian team managed to bypass two Dutch teams who were highly qualified, and therefore started earlier.
The Belgian team writes That climb to 1,800m in the Atlas Mountains was particularly challenging, but thanks to the powerful engine, the team was able to reach the summit quickly. Despite the camels that blocked the road for a short time, the team remained in the lead until the end in Zagora.
| Team | solar car | University | time | stands up |
| Agoria Solar Team | Blue Point Atlas | Leuven (BE) | 07:21:55 | 1 |
| Solar Team Twente | red horizon | Twente (Netherlands) | 07:39:23 | 2 |
| Vatnful Solar Team | Nona 11 | TU Delft (Netherlands) | 07:57:53 | 3 |
| Top Dutch Solar Racing | green spirit | Groningen (Netherlands) | 08:41:00 | 4 |
| Chalmers Solar Team | SKÖLL | Gothenburg (SE) | 10:03:00 | 5 |
| Sun chariot Aachen | Covestro Foton | Aachen (DE) | 10:21:00 | 6 |
| Solared Estonia | Solarid 1 | 6 universities (EE) | 12:05:00 | 7 |
The Solar Twente team started the first stage in fourth place and came in second. Shortly after the start The team had to stop for a few minutes due to a mechanical problem. As a result, RED Horizon was overtaken by two other teams, but points can be redeemed again during the day. In this way, Twente was able to overtake other Dutch teams and build a lead on those teams.
Top Dutch Solar Racing from Groningen qualified first with Green Spirit, but eventually crossed the line in fourth, more than an hour behind the Belgian team. The team writes For confidence in the ability to adjust the strategy with the data from the first stage, in order to save time again.
TU Delft’s Vattenfall Solar team, which came in third with the Nuna11, sums up the day in a YouTube video. The team talks about a busy day and says there was little sun in the afternoon, which made the race more difficult. Team progress can also be tracked via a Webcam on solar car.
In addition to the Dutch and Belgian teams, teams from Germany, Sweden and Estonia are also participating. After the first stage, they were already several hours late. The solar race in Morocco is an alternative to the global solar challenge in Australia, which will not take place there due to strict lockdown rules.
The second station has started
On Tuesday morning, the teams started the second stage, a distance of 548 kilometers with 1,628 altimeters, with which the teams will be transported to the desert village of Merzouga. The second stage passes directly through the mountains and is considered by the teams as the most difficult stage of the race. The teams are expected to reach their destination by evening.
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