Seattle Times, Business:
Monday, November 12, 1990
AP
DARWIN, Australia - Switzerland's Biel University opened up a one-hour lead today in the World Solar Challenge race, taking advantage of strong sunshine after a rain-plagued opening day.
The "Spirit of Biel," sponsored by Swatch, reached speeds more than 60 mph while cruising through the vast Outback. The 36 solar-powered cars started from Brisbane yesterday for the 1,860-mile trip to Adelaide across Australia's desolate midsection.
Honda was running second, closely tailed by two American entries, Western Washington University and the University of Michigan. They finished second and first, respectively, in a Florida-to-Michigan race in July to win backing from General Motors, along with third-place University of Maryland.
The Swiss representative had covered more than 600 miles by the compulsory 5 p.m. stopping time. The cars race nine hours each day.
The car punctured a tire at one point, but the support team took only five minutes to replace the two front wheels, a race spokesman said.
No entries have dropped out of the race, but almost 560 miles separates the first and last cars. The start of the competition was delayed by an hour yesterday by rain in Darwin, and overcast conditions persisted through the day until torrential downpours forced some competitors to stop and cover their cars.
The slow opening pace wiped out any chance at the speed record organizers had predicted in the race for cars powered only by energy from the sun.
Mostly overcast conditions persisted as the cars headed south toward Adelaide, 1,875 miles away.
Western Washington's car has fore and aft driver seats so the vehicle can point in either direction to take best advantage of the sun's position.
Speeds were expected to pick up once the cloud cover dissipated.
Sunraycer, a General Motors car, averaged 42 mph and hit a top speed of 71 mph to win the inaugural race in 1987. It reached Adelaide in 44 hours and 54 minutes, over five days.
For much of the route through desolate central Australia, there are no trees, just scrub brush, grass, rocks, and usually plenty of sun.
This year the entries include 11 cars each from Australia and Japan, eight from the United States and one each from Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, New Zealand and England.
With oil prices skyrocketing, interest in the solar race keen.
Retired American real-estate developer J. Ward Phillips said more than $23.4 million of technology was represented in the race.
The lineup reads like a "Who's Who" of engineering and automotive technology.
In addition to the cars sponsored by General Motors, Japan's Honda Research and Development Co. Ltd. has an entry.
The only British car, under the name of Phil Farrand, is from the Williams Formula One Grand Prix team.
The solar car has come so far that GM has unveiled a prototype, the Impact, which it claims will out-accelerate a Mazda MX-5 sports car to 60 mph.
Honda had the fastest time of the 36 cars during Saturday's practice, reaching 75 mph around a track.
Nate Rodriguez, one of Western Washington University's 16 team members, didn't mind that Honda's Stealth bomber-shaped entry was getting most of the attention.
"I think it's good," Rodriguez said. "It puts all the pressure on them. They have to win."
The Bellingham, Wash., school's Viking XX is one of the most unusual entries because of the two driver's seats. It is one of two such cars - Crowder College of Missouri is the other.
Western Washington finished second in a university race from Florida to Michigan in July, and Prof. Michael Seal says improvements since then have boosted the car's efficiency.
"Our car has 24 percent more power and 11 percent less weight than in the American race," Seal said. "We want to win. Honda isn't invincible."
Since the winner only gets a trophy, one of the main goals is to prove that the technology, and the concepts behind it, work.
George Bournias is riding with the University of Michigan team as a representative of Domino's Pizza. He says the company is considering electric cars as an option for pizza deliveries.
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