World Solar Challenge 2019 Revisited: some additional charts

Revisiting the World Solar Challenge, the chart below shows distance/speed plots for seven WSC teams (for other teams I was either missing some GPS data, or did not have access to explanatory social media). Distances shown are road distances (not geodesic), while speeds are estimated from distance and time information (because speeds were not included in the GPS data that was kindly supplied to me). As a result of data limitations, the compulsory 30-minute stops at Katherine etc. are shown by sharp speed dips, but not necessarily ones that drop all the way to zero.

Vattenfall (3) had a devastating battery fire; Top Dutch (6) were the best new team, finishing 4^th; Agoria (8) won the Challenger class; Twente (21) tragically crashed while in the lead; Sonnenwagen Aachen (70) were one of two teams to come back from a serious crash and still finish; Blue Sky (77) were the 11^th and last Challenger team to reach Adelaide on solar power; and Kogakuin (88) were the other team to recover from a major crash.

Night stops in the chart above are marked in red. Photos are from their tweet posted minutes before the fire and from a tweet posted shortly afterwards.

Control stop times for Vattenfall: Katherine: Sunday 12:19:21, Daly Waters: Sunday 15:59:21, Tennant Creek: Monday 11:45:23, Barrow Creek: Monday 14:51:01, Alice Springs: Tuesday 9:30:33, Kulgera: Tuesday 12:51:41, Coober Pedy: Wednesday 8:39:31, Glendambo: Wednesday 12:40:58, Port Augusta: Wednesday 16:44:32.

The chart shows Top Dutch’s multiple stops just out of Tennant Creek with battery problems. Top Dutch finished 4^th, and won the WSC Excellence in Engineering Award.

Control stop times for Top Dutch: Katherine: Sunday 12:16:27, Daly Waters: Sunday 15:57:03, Tennant Creek: Monday 12:12:55, Barrow Creek: Monday 15:28:35, Alice Springs: Tuesday 10:39:32, Kulgera: Tuesday 14:41:40, Coober Pedy: Wednesday 12:00:43, Glendambo: Wednesday 15:48:50, Port Augusta: Thursday 10:47:39, Adelaide: Thursday 15:30:00.

Night stops in the chart above are marked in blue. Agoria had a virtually perfect race, winning the Challenger class. Visible in the chart after Coober Pedy is the 80 km/h speed limit imposed by the WSC on Wednesday morning after wind gusts caused multiple crashes.

Control stop times for Agoria: Katherine: Sunday 12:17:04, Daly Waters: Sunday 16:05:54, Tennant Creek: Monday 11:55:56, Barrow Creek: Monday 14:56:40, Alice Springs: Tuesday 9:46:28, Kulgera: Tuesday 13:10:50, Coober Pedy: Wednesday 9:22:36, Glendambo: Wednesday 13:05:06, Port Augusta: Wednesday 16:51:59, Adelaide: Thursday 11:52:42.

Twente’s tragic crash (due to a strong wind gust) occurred at about 2165 km from Darwin, just before Coober Pedy. Photos are from a tweet posted the day before the crash and from a tweet posted shortly afterwards. I was one of the people that signed the car after the crash. Twente won the Promotional Award, for their excellent media.

Control stop times for Twente: Katherine: Sunday 12:08:43, Daly Waters: Sunday 15:32:39, Tennant Creek: Monday 11:33:01, Barrow Creek: Monday 14:31:33, Alice Springs: Tuesday 9:17:16, Kulgera: Tuesday 12:40:40.

Sonnenwagen Aachen stopped for five hours to repair their car on Wednesday, just before Coober Pedy, after the car was blown off the road (their first priority was the driver, of course). There was another stop between Glendambo and Port Augusta, due to a broken shock absorber that had been damaged in the crash (Western Sydney Solar Team kindly helped get them back on the road). Sonnenwagen Aachen finished 6^th. They also won the Safety Award and and the Spirit of the Event Award (for not giving up).

Control stop times for Sonnenwagen Aachen: Katherine: Sunday 12:27:34, Daly Waters: Sunday 16:09:06, Tennant Creek: Monday 12:17:32, Barrow Creek: Monday 15:12:27, Alice Springs: Tuesday 9:52:06, Kulgera: Tuesday 13:31:00, Coober Pedy: Wednesday 15:08:20, Glendambo: Thursday 9:35:27, Port Augusta: Thursday 14:49:06, Adelaide: Friday 10:03:48.

Blue Sky (Toronto) had several brief stops of a few minutes (including for electrical issues on Monday), but no particularly dramatic events. They were also slowed somewhat by clouds on Wednesday morning. Blue Sky finished 11^th (the last Challenger team to reach Adelaide on solar power).

Control stop times for Blue Sky: Katherine: Sunday 12:49:29, Daly Waters: Monday 8:03:38, Tennant Creek: Monday 14:42:34, Barrow Creek: Tuesday 9:54:44, Alice Springs: Tuesday 14:23:40, Kulgera: Wednesday 11:00:30, Coober Pedy: Thursday 10:34:55, Glendambo: Thursday 15:01:18, Port Augusta: Friday 10:53:25, Adelaide: Friday 15:47:10.

Kogakuin was forced to stop with an overheated motor just after Katherine. They also crashed twice due to strong winds. The second, more serious, crash was due to a mini-tornado or willy-willy just before Glendambo (see their report here), and required overnight repair in town on Wednesday night. Kogakuin finished 5^th. They won the CSIRO Technical Innovation Award, for their hydropneumatic suspension. Their dramatic after-race video is here.

Control stop times for Kogakuin: Katherine: Sunday 12:18:43, Daly Waters: Monday 8:03:13, Tennant Creek: Monday 13:16:26, Barrow Creek: Monday 16:15:52, Alice Springs: Tuesday 11:03:53, Kulgera: Tuesday 14:32:15, Coober Pedy: Wednesday 12:04:23, Glendambo: Thursday 9:45:18, Port Aug: Thursday 14:18:47, Adelaide: Friday 9:53:00.

For comparison, here is the distance/time chart I did before. In that analysis, higher means slower, and the arrival times (in Darwin time) can be read out on the right:

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