Despite Nuna8 having covered more than 8000 kilometres on solar power in Australia and South-Africa, she is still hungry for more. In the coming two weeks Nuna8 will show her tricks for the final time in Egypt, the land of sun gods Ra and Atum. The Nuon Solar Team will participate in the Somabay Egyptian Solar Challenge (SESC), and will hopefully show Nuna8 has not forgotten how to win!
The Somabay Egyptian Solar Challenge
The Somabay Egyptian Solar Challenge will be held on the east coast of Egypt from March 17th to March 20th. During the four-day event teams will start and finish in Soma Bay, a tourist destination. The challenge of the event is similar to that in South-Africa: teams are given four days to cover as many kilometres as possible. During the event a stretch of road of around 250 km in length is made available, this stretch of road features various “turning points”. By turning around at these turning points teams can collect additional kilometres, but one has to be ‘back home’ at the finish line in time of course! A challenging strategic puzzle!
The route
Teams will drive north (and back) from Soma Bay on day 1, on day 2 teams will head south and will return again. These stages are then repeated on days 3 and 4 of the event. The team that has driven the most kilometres at the end of day 4 is declared the winner of the event!
The team
Since team Nuna9 is busy building the successor of Nuna8, “Team Egypt” consists of nine former team members of the Nuon Solar Team. Together they boast experience in fourteen solar races, this experience should help the team to start the event well-prepared!
Collaboration
During the SESC the Nuon Solar Team will collaborate with students from the university of Helwan in Cairo. Through this collaboration, knowledge on solar racing will be spread to the Middle East. Additionally, the students will be shown what they can achieve through their technology-oriented studies. For this reason, preparations for the event will take place in Cairo, where lectures on solar racing will be given and where the Egyptian team will be told about the design of Nuna8. Shortly before the competition, the entire team will head down south to Soma Bay.
Planning of the event
Nuna8 will be scrutineered from the 14th until the 16th of March, passing this scrutineering process is required to be allowed to take part in the SESC. The event itself will take place from the 17th until the 20th of March. All solar vehicles will return to Cairo on the 21st of March, where they will be displayed at the pyramids of Giza! Follow all updates on the event on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram page!