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  • FRANCES VAN ELBURG: Really important

  • to prepare ourselves for, uh...

  • the situations that can happen,

  • because to win this race

  • it means taking risks.

  • MAN: Oh!

  • Oh! [BEEPING]

  • [THUNDER RUMBLING]

  • DEREK: When young engineers

  • join the fraternity of

  • a solar car team,

  • it's just the beginning of

  • an unforeseeable

  • yet life changing journey.

  • [THUNDER RUMBLING]

  • A commitment that

  • begins as a choice

  • [indistinct shouting]

  • rose into an obsession.

  • [indistinct shouting]

  • And when their ideas face

  • not only fierce competition,

  • but the reality checks

  • of Mother Nature,

  • their bond grows with the struggle.

  • And their will becomes

  • even more consumed with the desire to win.

  • [THUNDER RUMBLING]

  • [INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

  • YANTE VAN HAM: That night was very... very tough.

  • There was a lot of wind, there was lot of sand.

  • There was a thunderstorm out of nowhere, lightning strikes.

  • [THUNDER RUMBLING]

  • And then in the meantime we still had to fix the car.

  • So, we set up a

  • make-shift workshop

  • with wooden crates and everything

  • and then we fixed the car in the middle of nowhere.

  • [INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

  • It was tough but

  • yeah, we pushed through.

  • DEREK: It's challenges like these

  • that can either

  • break a team or

  • bring them even closer together.

  • DRIES KETELSLEGERS: In the middle of the night, I woke up

  • with a tent right in my face.

  • Like, everything was blown to pieces.

  • So, I ran out and started helping here

  • getting the tents back in,

  • getting all the stuff to the truck.

  • It's an adventure.

  • I mean, in 60 years we can

  • talk to our children and say,

  • "Ah, we've had that and sandstorms"

  • and everything, so...

  • I thought it was quite cool.

  • As we get into South Australia,

  • the wind is picking up because there are

  • fewer and fewer trees.

  • Without that coverage,

  • well, the winds can whip up to incredible

  • speeds here

  • and fly across the roads.

  • That can cause solar cars

  • to spin around,

  • lose their bearings

  • and maybe ruin some of their

  • delicate mechanics.

  • [INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

  • DEREK: The journey in and out of the next control stop,

  • Coober Pedy, is a few hundred kilometers of

  • notoriously treacherous road

  • for this race.

  • And climate change has only made

  • these winds stronger

  • and more dangerous.

  • The section around Coober Pedy is very difficult,

  • as there is a lot of sidewinds.

  • And our light solar cars are very

  • sensitive to those sidewinds

  • as they get blown away

  • and the pilot has to constantly

  • work on the steering wheel to keep

  • the... car going straight.

  • [INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

  • Go, let's go. Let's go.

  • SIDD BIKKNNAVAR: Starting of the day, we'll be fighting some

  • pretty high head winds

  • from Coober Pedy to Glendambo.

  • That's the next to two control stops.

  • The weather models are all predicting

  • 50 kilometers power winds.

  • So, it drains the battery

  • 'cause you're fighting through the wind

  • and the other thing is

  • it makes uh... steering very difficult.

  • Plus you have gust from side to side,

  • road trains, so it'll be

  • a really difficult day.

  • DEREK: In spite of the harsh conditions,

  • last year's champions

  • Vattenfall, are on the attack.

  • Yeah, yesterday we were

  • 22-23 minutes behind Twente

  • and now we are only three minutes behind,

  • so, uh, we made up for a lot of the time.

  • And I think we'll be able to

  • overtake Twente today.

  • We've got a couple of drivers that are

  • really good with driving with

  • big winds, so we hope

  • they will sort this out today

  • and we can go as fast as we want to.

  • DEREK: For three days straight, Solar Team Twente

  • from the Netherlands, has held on to the lead.

  • An impressive accomplishment.

  • But with Vattenfall right on their tail,

  • things maybe about to change.

  • JASPER DE GROOTE: So, yesterday was kind of a hectic day.

  • So, like we had some issues with our solar panel

  • that was clapping uh... open

  • because of the wind but,

  • we fixed it overnight and made sure

  • it will not happen again

  • and I have no clue

  • how it will go uh... today

  • and how the weather will play out.

  • DEREK: And while two formidable Dutch teams

  • are still leading the pack,

  • team Tokai are convinced

  • that their bullet design

  • is far superior

  • for handling strong winds

  • than the catamarans out front.

  • Today is the day to make their move.

  • KOTA FUKUDA: Our design is

  • not for straight wind

  • not uh... but also

  • for the side wind.

  • So the effect is smaller

  • than other teams, I think.

  • DEREK: Using complex

  • fluid dynamic simulations,

  • Tokai designed a vehicle shaped

  • like a dart.

  • The majority of the weight

  • upfront, and a rear

  • that forms a cross.

  • Like a dart, their car

  • actually gets it more stable

  • the faster it goes.

  • Increasing stability further,

  • Tokai carefully shaped the shoulder of the car

  • to direct crosswinds, down and back.

  • It's an ingenious design.

  • Meanwhile, team Agoria has developed

  • a completely different solution.

  • VAN HAM: We also have a system built into our car

  • which is called crabbing.

  • And for crabbing we turn

  • the car sideways.

  • DEREK: By using four wheel steering,

  • Agoria is able to turn their car

  • into the wind.

  • And thus greatly reduce

  • drag and lateral force.

  • VAN HAM: This helps us reduce air resistance.

  • So, when there is a side wind,

  • we can tilt the car and then it

  • catches that side wind, and then

  • the aerodynamic air resistance

  • is reduced.

  • As the only competitor

  • from Germany, and the...

  • challenger class,

  • it's our goal to

  • take on the Dutch, as

  • we say in our team.

  • So we need to

  • show that we are able to finish the challenge

  • and show all the others

  • that we can take on the Dutch.

  • DEREK: Entering the notoriously dangerous

  • stretch of road before Coober Pedy,

  • Twente is well aware

  • that their competition

  • is gunning for them.

  • DE GROOTE: Today will be a very important day

  • because it will be very tense at the finish.

  • It's just

  • this close and you're just

  • hoping your strategy plays out well.

  • JASPER SCHRIJVERS: Because the teams are so close,

  • teams are less eager to

  • slow down because of safety.

  • I think somebody will make a mistake and...

  • making a mistake with these kind of

  • sidewinds...

  • can become dangerous.

  • DEREK: While pushing hard to keep their lead,

  • Twente is harshly confronted by the outback.

  • And it costs them... dearly.

  • DEKKER: It's really windy here

  • and our driver he was doing a great job

  • keeping the car on the road

  • but suddenly, there was one wind strike

  • more heavier than the rest,

  • and he lost grip with his tires

  • and then he arrived here.

  • ELBURG: It was so hard to see your car

  • and it was uh... yeah sort of gone.

  • It was upside down. It didn't...

  • it didn't drive anymore.

  • DEREK: After dominating the race for three and a half days,

  • team Twente is out

  • of the World Solar Challenge.

  • DEKKER: Everyone is okay.

  • Our driver is okay, so that's that.

  • I am very happy with that

  • and that's the first thing

  • that was important, yeah.

  • Everyone is okay.

  • DEREK: As the emotional shock of their crash sets in,

  • the defending champions, Vattenfall,

  • pass them by.

  • Moving them into the lead.

  • It's like life's work for last year

  • and then it's gone.

  • This is so sad, yep.

  • VAN HAM: Oh [bleep]!

  • We just passed by Solar Team Twente,

  • who were in the lead, in the race.

  • And they were on the side of the roads.

  • And pretty far off,

  • so I think they were just

  • blown off the road and

  • landed in the side.

  • I hope their driver is fine

  • but it looks really bad.

  • It's great for us that we can overtake them

  • because we've lost a competitor,

  • but it feels terrible at the same time.

  • We wanna win, but we wanna win by being the best,

  • not by having the other ones being

  • blown off the road.

  • Coober Pedy,

  • not to be underestimated.

  • DEREK: After about an hour on the road,

  • everyone is still battling the wind,

  • just trying to make it

  • into the control stop at Coober Pedy,

  • in one piece.

  • Sheezus...

  • We see the car

  • being a bit well... imperfect,

  • or im... imbalanced

  • on the road.

  • WILLEM-JAN CLAES: The danger of the race is

  • all the factors combined

  • so you have the speed of

  • those cars that go fast.

  • You have the winds.

  • You have some small tornadoes also

  • that can pass the roads.

  • You have the road trains,

  • incoming traffic,

  • a lot of animals.

  • It's a long route

  • and you have to be focused

  • every minute of the race.

  • DEREK: As the day wears on,

  • the wind continues to build,

  • with gusts reaching up to 80 kilometers per hour.

  • The aerodynamics of

  • the German team's bullet design

  • is serving them well,

  • but it may have its limits.

  • [SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

  • [SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

  • [SPEAKING GERMAN]

  • DEREK: As Sonnenwagen's driver steers into

  • 50 kilometer per hour crosswinds,

  • the road trains suddenly cuts off the wind,

  • and then creates a turbulent wake behind it,

  • sucking the solar car into its draft.

  • It rolls multiple times

  • before coming to rest,

  • upside down.

  • KAI-JIMMY SHEN: I didn't have any injury, but uh...

  • it could have been much worse than that, so uh...

  • I'd like to thank my

  • [CHUCKLES SOFTLY] my colleagues

  • for building such a safe car

  • [SPEAKING GERMAN]

  • [MAN SPEAKING IN GERMAN]

  • DEREK: Chances looked pretty slim that

  • the German team can get

  • their car back on the road.

  • It is in rough shape,

  • but one has to respect

  • their tenacity.

  • I'm in Coober Pedy.

  • This is a mining town.

  • This is where a lot of Australia's opal comes from.

  • It is cold, it is windy

  • and the last hundred kilometers

  • of this race, have been

  • incredibly treacherous

  • We're now about 800 kilometers

  • from the finish line.

  • Defending champions, Vattenfall,

  • have taken a lead following Twente's crash.

  • and they've been here for

  • for 20 minutes already.

  • What is that like to drive in that vehicle

  • in this wind? What is it like?

  • Feel the wind, definitely.

  • erm... I'm happy with the way the car drives currently,

  • we're relatively stable.

  • Erm... it's... we can keep it on the road, that's fine.

  • It just requires concentration at all time.

  • DEREK: Is there any fear about

  • you know, flipping or going off the road?

  • Oh, yes if you see your nearest competitor go

  • and that's something you never want to see.

  • That's not the way you want any solar event to go.

  • No, exactly.

  • Okay, well done getting to the check point.

  • There goes team Vattenfall.

  • They are the first team to depart Coober Pedy.

  • In fact they have the entire control stop

  • up to themselves

  • Fifty minutes back, now running second, is Agoria.

  • Then Tokai from Japan

  • and the University of Michigan.

  • Seven and half hours behind the leader,

  • Sonnenwagen, arrives at Coober Pedy,

  • with the car being held together by duct tape and

  • and pure resilience.

  • [CROWD CLAPPING]

  • SHEN: Even though we had this accident,

  • we were able to uh... to go on.

  • Uh... they assessed the damage

  • and they fixed it very quickly.

  • We're very lucky that uh...nothing happened.

  • That's uh... fortunate that everyone is... is fine.

  • We always have to remind ourself,

  • this is a dangerous competition.

  • But what we

  • wanna achieve

  • is the message that

  • sustainable technologies

  • and the new ones that have

  • fight climate change, that they get attention

  • and that, uh... they develop even more.

  • We wanna show what's possible already

  • and I hope [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

  • uh... yeah,

  • this message is being delivered.

  • DEREK: With the lead team's back on the wind-blown highway,

  • the race has made a bold move

  • for safety.

  • The race has really changed

  • because of this crazy weather

  • and all of the wind,

  • well, the race officials have actually declared

  • that all solar cars

  • must go under 80 kilometers per hour.

  • That was maybe precipitated by

  • the rollover of Twente

  • that happened earlier today

  • and also the team Sonnenwagen

  • BIKKANNAVAR: This hurts us in a big way.

  • We actually performed very well in the high winds,

  • the car was designed for it.

  • DEREK: By complying with a lower speed limit,

  • teams positions in the race

  • are effectively on hold.

  • BIKKANNAVAR: This helps the leading cars,

  • in front of us, which are catamarans

  • and they're...you know very unstable in the wind.

  • This also helps uh...

  • some of the slower cars behind us.

  • Now, instead of falling

  • further and further behind,

  • they're able to just sorta

  • keep their position locked behind us.

  • PHILIP GEPTS: Yeah, so we're headed towards Glendambo now...

  • that's the place where the second control stop will be.

  • And that's uh...

  • second to last.

  • DEREK: Like Tokai, Agoria feels

  • their car is very capable in the wind.

  • And the speed limit,

  • is actually hurting their chances

  • of catching Vattenfall.

  • [SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]

  • DEREK: Taking charge, Agoria sends

  • their advance crew to the next control stop,

  • control stop, to make a case to the race officials.

  • The faculty has imposed an 80 kph limit

  • The thing is, we have footage

  • from our car which shows it is stable

  • and it is designed

  • to be able to...

  • To drive in severe crosswinds.

  • This is basically at eighty kilometers an hour

  • And we just know we can go faster

  • while driving safely

  • Hi, Dan, uh... this is Paul

  • Agoria, uh... apparently they've spoken with

  • some people that said

  • this uh... 80 kph speed limit is going to be reviewed,

  • have you heard any news

  • about that?

  • All right, speed restriction

  • has been taken off.

  • It's free for all.

  • -Alright. -Okay, thank you very much.

  • Let's chase them!

  • DEREK: The speed limit was enforced for

  • a full two hours.

  • Definitely, an opportunity lost

  • for teams that felt it took away their

  • competitive advantage.

  • But now, the gloves are off.

  • Here in Glendambo,

  • I am expecting

  • the first vehicle to

  • roll in here very shortly,

  • it is the team, Vattenfall.

  • This team has run

  • a pretty incredible strategic race.

  • Having won this event

  • seven of the last nine times they've competed,

  • Vattenfall knows to

  • to stick to their strategy and take

  • advantage of other team's mistakes.

  • When Twente went off the road,

  • they were able to pass by and take over

  • what seems to be a sizeable

  • and potentially insurmountable lead.

  • From here on out, there's only

  • several hundred kilometers into Adelaide.

  • So, it's their race to lose.

  • Remarkably,

  • even with the section of speed restriction,

  • Agoria has cut their gap in half

  • since the last control stop.

  • To just 23 minutes behind Vattenfall.

  • This race might not be over yet.

  • [INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

  • DEREK: That was closing a lot of ground,

  • like on one leg.

  • So, if you can do that again the next leg.

  • Then we'll be... head-to-head.

  • DEREK: Awesome!

  • How is the Tokai car holding up today?

  • Ah. It's holding up great.

  • Our car was designed

  • for these kinds of conditions.

  • -[DISTORTED SOUND] -Fukuda sensei is the

  • aerodynamics professor.

  • So...this was all designed for,

  • and then unfortunately we had to...

  • we had to slow it down and lose our advantage.

  • But this was the sector where

  • we were gonna overtake the leaders.

  • So, now you can make up some more time on the next leg.

  • Yes. So now we can increase the pace, yeah.

  • Fantastic.

  • With no imposed speed limits,

  • the top teams are in a sprint

  • to make the next control stop, Port Augusta,

  • before the day's end at 5 p.m.

  • And it is 289 kilometers away.

  • Hopefully, we pass Vattenfall tonight.

  • If not then, we'll get them tomorrow

  • But also the... solar car behind us, Tokai.

  • They're, uh...

  • hunting us down as well.

  • BIKKANNAVAR: This competition is a blend of

  • endurance and excitement.

  • It's putting yourself to the test.

  • Those long hours of

  • having to pay attention and do everything right.

  • You know, a gust of wind comes by

  • or there's a mechanical problem.

  • It's a lot of mental focus to

  • stay alert and to be ready to

  • operate at very high level all at once.

  • Anything goes wrong, you need to be able to

  • do whatever's right for the car.

  • DEREK: I am here at Port Augusta,

  • the ninth and last control stop

  • of this entire solar challenge.

  • After this, it's straight through to

  • the finish line in Adelaide.

  • Now, it's nearly the end of Day Four

  • and momentarily

  • we are expecting the arrival

  • of the Vattenfall car.

  • The real question what I wanna see here is

  • how close behind them is Agoria.

  • Looking at the time that it is now,

  • nearly 20 to 5:00,

  • looks like both of those cars

  • may end their day

  • here, at this control stop.

  • This is way faster

  • than I was expecting.

  • Agoria is in right

  • on the heels of Vattenfall.

  • Seven minutes separating these two teams.

  • The last control stop, it was more like... 23.

  • That is remarkable.

  • This team is pulling back time

  • in a serious way.

  • Oh... whoa... whoa... watch out! watch out!

  • DEREK: Phew!

  • The Vattenfall car

  • just being pushed by the wind,

  • rolled off its moorings,

  • and started rolling backwards.

  • Now, none of the team members

  • are allowed to touch that vehicle

  • or they have to start that timer again.

  • Team Agoria has already arrived.

  • So, everyone was running

  • trying to throw rocks and...

  • little bits of matter underneath it

  • just to stop the car from rolling away.

  • This is incredible.

  • Agoria has witnessed

  • this entire moment,

  • and feels the defending champions

  • have violated the rules.

  • In turn, they have filed a protest.

  • Even though no one physically touched the car,

  • they still feel the rules were broken.

  • FAID: The rule only says that

  • during the control stop

  • the pilot ha to do all the handling

  • nobody can touch anything.

  • And everything that he's using,

  • must be part of the car.

  • If that cone was part of the car,

  • that has been carried all the way

  • then it would be fine. As long as the pilot did it.

  • Right, but that's not what happened.

  • Team Tokai, has just made it

  • in the nick of time.

  • Since all control stop periods must

  • be served during official race hours,

  • they will have to take their 30 minutes

  • stop down before leaving in the morning.

  • Tomorrow morning will be

  • a full-tilt sprint to the Adelaide finish line.

  • Race officials have agreed with

  • Agoria's protest and docked Vattenfall

  • a five minute penalty.

  • That means,

  • the top two teams will be departing here only

  • two and half minutes apart.

  • The closest in race history.

  • Yeah, tomorrow...

  • It's full attack for the win.

  • Now we are so close,

  • we have to do it.

  • DEREK: Tomorrow, one team will be crowned

  • champion of the World Solar Challenge.

  • Will the Dutch team, Vattenfall,

  • hang on and become champions

  • for the eighth time?

  • Will the Belgian team, Agoria,

  • finally their streak of bad luck

  • and claim their first victory?

  • Or will the ultra-disciplined team, Tokai,

  • who had been relentlessly gaining on

  • the leader since day one,

  • finally catch them both,

  • and take home the trophy?

FRANCES VAN ELBURG: Really important

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