Solar Team Twente vs. Tesla

Alongside the victory over the Tesla, the Red One (last year’s solar car) also left behind 12 other competitors and therefore was not only the fastest but also the most energy-efficient participant. “The most important factor in this race was the strategy. It was an enormous challenge to also drive at night for the first time ever with the Red One, that is made of course to drive on solar energy” says Jeroen Minnema, strategist of Solar Team Twente.

Race leader Lars Klein on the victory: “We have risen above our own expectations. Our car wasn’t build for a circuit with sharp corners. We went there predominantly to learn about the car, racing and our team.” The Red One is built for constant driving. Because of the many corners on the circuit this was impossible and that makes the victory even more special.

In the coming year and a half, the new team will work on the construction and promotion of the solar car from Twente with which they will race during the World Solar Challenge in Australia in October 2017. The past edition was very exciting: the team finished just second with only a backlog of 3 minutes on the other Dutch team from Delft. The Dutch solar teams are top of the world!