Queen’s Solar Vehicle Team First Canadians to Finish The 2001 World Solar Challenge

The Queen’s Solar Vehicle Team was the first Canadian team to cross the finish line at the 2001 World Solar Challenge in Adlade, Australia as Zoe Calleja, one of the team’s two drivers, guided the car into Torrens Parade Ground on November 22 after nearly 6 hours of driving through patches of clouds and thunderstorms. The team had been on the road since the 18th of November when the race began in Darwin at the northern tip of Australia.
"It was a great race," says team manager Jeff Bird. "We pushed the car to its limits and the team performed exceptionally well. Even though we went through several areas of marginal weather, Mirage completed the race faster than any Queen’s solar car before it."
"When we broke open the token bottle of champagne, I can’t tell you how relieved I felt," Susan Hayes, Business Manager. "Everyone on this team has put so much time and effort into making this race a success that it was really wonderful to finally cross the finish line."
The winners of the race, Alpha Centauri from the Netherlands, finished the race earlier in the morning, followed by Aurora from Australia (last year’s winners), the University of Michigan, Solar Motions from the United States, and the University of Missouri Rolla. Two other teams finished the race on the 22nd after Queen’s, with over 30 teams still remaining in the Outback. Included in that group were the two other Canadian teams from the universities of Waterloo and Toronto. The Queen’s University Solar Vehicle Team’s title sponsor this year is Ontario Power Generation.