New Solar Team Twente drivers unveiled

The four new drivers of Solar Team Twente are Mariska Bos, Arthur Kambartsumjan, Evert van der Hoek and Hidde de Vries. All four agree that it is “A great honour!”. During the race, they will cover 3000 km through the Australian outback, from Darwin to Adelaide. Despite heavy rainfall, the RED E rode several trial laps on the TT circuit in Assen this week in preparation of the qualification for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. This qualification takes place on October 12 in Darwin and serves to determine the starting positions of the big race. In addition to practising, Sam Langerak took this opportunity to take beautiful pictures of the solar car and the new drivers.

To fit in the RED E, the drivers must be smaller than 1.80 meters. They drive in shifts of more than three hours and must withstand temperatures that can rise to 50 degrees Celsius. The drivers have been training for a few months and will be in excellent shape during the race. This training consists of daily abdominal exercises, workouts in the gym and even workouts with sweaters and jackets to get used to the temperatures in Australia. The drivers must, of course, also be stress-resistant and able to communicate well with each other.

The World Solar Challenge is a competition for solar cars. The 3000-kilometre race goes right through Australia; from Darwin to Adelaide. This battle between student-built sustainable solar cars stimulates innovation in the field of sustainable transport and energy and thus contributes to a better world of tomorrow. Because the organisation of the World Solar Challenge changes the rules every year, fields of innovation are redirected at every edition.