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We’re back, and we won our class!
The Arizona Solar Racing Team is back from the American Solar Challenge, where Monsoon took first in its class and ninth overall! The team is still getting everything back together after the race, and is pouring through all the pictures and stories from the race, so we'll have a comprehensive update on the race soon. Until then, however, check out these pictures from the weeks leading up to the race, covering the final construction details on the car, installing the solar array, its first drive and right on up to loading it into the trailer for the drive there.
Also, please visit our sponsors page to see who has made all of our success possible:
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Molding a support lip for the driver hatch
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Jason preparing to be entombed in the car forever
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It's safe to come out now Scott, all the monsters are gone
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Jason enjoying his grinding just a little too much
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Amazingly, the inner diameter of the axle is exactly the outer diameter of a Sharpie marker! This made it easy to mark the position of the wheel center
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The underside of the chassis after cutting the wheel hatches - the team hopes to never see this view of the car again!
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How many solar car team members does it take to install a regen-brake pedal?
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Here's three people actually doing three separate jobs! Note Jason bleeding the brakes for the 600th time
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Laying out the solar cells for the first time, it actually starts to look like a solar car
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No, Colin was not actually drilling through a solar cell, it's just a reflection
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The chassis and body just before the solar cells are applied permanently
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The body pockmarked by the many Nylon spacers used to pass the array wires through the conductive bodyshell
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Thom Kreider, formerly of Suncat Solar, came down from Phoenix to assist the team in installing the array
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The solar array gurus discussing the next move
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Beginning the attachment of the solar cells
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Here's Before...
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And After!
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Jason enjoys a "solar" car for the first time
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The car comes to AME, home of our other lab, for the first time
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Driving to AME was the first time the car ever drove under its own power, just 2 minutes before its unveiling for Tucson media!
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Rick in the chassis, preparing himself for the many hours of torture he'll receive on the race
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Rick "the tire destroyer" Workman, preparing for a brake test
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Destroyed tire #1. This was a new tire only moments before. Note strategically placed wrench
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Chris in the chassis before the roll cage is installed
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The body and chassis of the car rest separately in the AME parking lot
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Colin's only chance to fit in the car is before the roll cage is installed, so he decides to record the moment
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The body goes on for the final time before trailering to the race
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For anyone that remembers Daedalus, getting into the trailer with Monsoon is 1000% simpler, as Jason proves by driving in
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This is only the second time Monsoon has been in the trailer
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Ram, the father of former project leader Ray, came to send us off, and here he poses with Monsoon
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The boring view from the chase van all the way to Kalamazoo
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