Following a cargo journey of three weeks and another week and a half to prepare the solar car, we have finally begun testing our car on Australian soil. Having completed very successful test weekends in Belgium, nearly 2000 km, we were very curious and hopeful concerning the initial tests in Australia. However, these did not proceed as we had expected – the gremlins waited no longer than the first brake test to throw a monkey wrench in the works. The pedal mounting broke off, which put an immediate end to our test day. With the crash of Nuna5 in the back of our minds (for more info: blog Nuon Solar Team) we took absolutely no risks and redesigned the entire system the same evening. The Australian machine shop had the new parts ready for us the next day. We began our second day of testing in good spirits. We made our preparations at a parking lot alongside the road. Everything checked out OK, the brake test and turning circle check were therefore quickly completed. Our first 100 metres went smoothly, and then things went wrong again. The motor began vibrating and became too hot, forcing us to pull over onto the shoulder. After driving several more metres, flashing new software and even installing a new motor, we finally isolated the problem to the wave sculptor. Another test day gone... This may all sound pretty discouraging, but we didn't feel that way at all. We learned a lot about how our car functions during these tests. And that is the point of the tests, after all: to find these problems so we don't have them during the race. In the meantime, virtually all the problems have been resolved and tomorrow we will once again give our all on our test route, the Cox Peninsula road!