Flying Dutch team wins world solar car race across Australian outback

Dominant Dutch team Nuon won an epic 3,000-kilometer solar car race across Australia’s outback for the thirdstraight year on Thursday in an innovative contest showcasing new vehicle technology.

The World Solar Challenge, first run in 1987 and last held in 2015, began in the northern city of Darwin on Sunday morning with 41 competing cars, with Adelaide in South Australia state the final destination.

Cheers and chants of “Nuna” roared from the large Dutch contingent as the Nuna 9 car – traveling at an average speed of 81.2 kilometers per hour – crossed the finish line mid-afternoon.

“Welcome to #Adelaide @NuonSolarTeam, winner of the @bridgestone #BWSC17 Schneider Electric Challenger Class,” race organizers tweeted.

The US’ University of Michigan Novum was on track for second place ahead of Belgium’s Punch Powertrain.

The event has become one of the world’s foremost innovation challenges with teams looking to demonstrate designs that could one day lead to commercially available solar-powered vehicles for passengers.

Google co-founder Larry Page and Tesla co-founder J B Straubel are past competitors who credit the event in influencing their careers.

The win is the seventh for Nuon, with their car overcoming cloudy skies as they took the lead early and stayed ahead in the elite Challenger class which features slick, single seat aerodynamic vehicles built for sustained endurance and total energy efficiency.

The team’s winning time was 37 hours, 10 minutes and 41 seconds. When their team finished first in 2015, it took them 33.03 hours.

Team manager Sander Koot said they changed their strategy and driving style to cope with weather conditions that included wind gusts of up to 60 km/h.

They also positioned the car so it could benefit from the windy conditions like a sailing ship, the team’s aerodynamics expert Jasper Hemmes told organizers.

There is also a Cruiser class which aims to showcase solar technology for mainstream vehicles more practical for day-to-day use.