ASC 1: Introducing the American Solar Challenge

Route map, coloured by elevation (from −110 to 4351 m). Departure dates from the stage stops (black dots) at Gering, Lander, etc. will be 16^th, 18^th, 20^th, and finally 22^nd for the short stage from Burns.

It’s time for me to begin my coverage of the American Solar Challenge (ASC) this coming July. Following qualification at Motorsport Park Hastings, Nebraska, this solar-car race will run from Omaha, Nebraska to Bend, Oregon. Scrutineering will start on Friday July 6^th, qualification track racing on Tuesday the 10^th, and the road race itself will run from Saturday the 14^th to Sunday the 22^nd. As the map above shows, much of the road race run through some pretty serious mountains (click to zoom).

This ASC poster shows the Cruisers in the first two columns (also available with white background).

Note: this poster has been updated – see here

Currently, 24 solar car teams from 6 countries are entered in the race, in two classes (Cruiser class and Challenger class). I am maintaining an annotated team status list for the race. See also the official ASC social media at     (click on the symbols), and the poster above (click to zoom).

And here is one car – Argo from the University of Illinois:

photo: Anthony Dekker

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