Schulich 1 Finishes Sixth In NASC

Calgary, Alberta — Fifteen solar powered vehicles cruised to the conclusion of the 2008 North American Solar Challenge fueled by sunshine and Calgary spirit as thousands of spectators lined the streets and gathered at the finish line at the University of Calgary today to greet cars including the U of C’s own Schulich 1.
“We are just overwhelmed by the number of people who came out to cheer for us and welcome us back home,” U of C Solar Team operations manager Darshni Pillay said. “This entire race has been a truly amazing experience for the entire team and we’d like to thank everyone who has supported us and followed us along this adventure.”
The 15 solar cars that left Plano, Texas on July 13 pulled out of the Family Leisure Centre in Medicine Hat at 9 am Tuesday morning on the final stage of the 4,000 kilometer race. All of the teams pushed their vehicles as close to highway speed as possible since there was no need to conserve power for another day of racing tomorrow. The first-place vehicle, University of Michigan’s Continuum, crossed the finish line at 1:19 pm followed by Waterloo University at 1:47, Germany’s FH Bochum car at 2:06, the University of Minnesota at 2:15, Principia College at 2:20, Queen’s University at 2:28. The U of C’s Schulich 1 was the seventh car to cross the finish line with all team members jogging alongside the car at 2:33 pm to a roar of applause from an estimated 10,000 people who gathered at the finish line celebration. Official standings from the race will be available on the North American Solar Challenge website at: www.americansolarchallenge.org
“It was so exciting to be able to drive the car back home today,” said driver Tiffany Veltman. “There were crowds of people cheering and waving the whole way and I just kept wanting to drive the car faster and faster!”
After celebrations for all teams tonight and a NASC wrap-up dinner at the Calgary Zoo on Wednesday evening, the U of C Solar Team plans to take a well-deserved rest before gearing to start designing and building its third car in September.
“We are bringing home so many lessons from this year’s race that will help us immensely as we move forward into the third generation of our car,” Pillay said. “The next North American Solar Challenge is only two years away so we have a lot of work ahead of us as our team continues to improve and become more competitive.”