Top Dutch Solar Racing third at European Solar Challenge

The new Top Dutch Solar Racing team - with seven FSE students - won the third prize during the iLumen European Solar Challenge at Circuit Zolder in Belgium last weekend. This challenge is a 24-hour race in which solar racing teams from several countries participate. The Groningen team already won the dynamic course challenge on Friday, in which their solar car had to turn through eight slalom courses. The 24-hour race started on Saturday afternoon and it was up to the team to do as many laps as possible on the circuit as efficiently as possible.

In addition to the dynamic course challenge and the number of laps driven, driving the fastest lap also counted in the final score. The team's lead driver, Kevin Luinge, set a track record of 2:42:767 during his overnight time slot! During the 24 hours, the team's drivers completed 302 laps, which is equivalent to 1,210 kilometers. After adding the fastest lap, the dynamic course and this distance, this resulted in a third place.

Preparation for World Solar Challenge

It was the first time that the Top Dutch Solar Racing team took part in the European Solar Challenge. After completing this challenge, the team will prepare for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge of 2021. They will build a completely new solar car for this 3000 kilometer race through Australia. "The European Solar Challenge was a really good way for the new team to start the challenging journey to Australia," said Aymar Berkel, team manager.

Top Dutch Solar Racing

The new team consists of nineteen students from the University of Groningen, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen and Noorderpoort. This is what makes Top Dutch Solar Racing unique: it is not a university team, but a team with students from secondary vocational education (MBO), higher professional education (HBO) and university education (WO). The current solar car has been built in collaboration with governments, companies and educational institutions in the Northern Netherlands.