12 February 2021
No Solar Challenge in Australia, new challenges ahead!
Last year, the rise of the Covid-19 virus has resulted in many new challenges, and this was no different for our team. Since the beginning of the summer, our team has been working on the ninth Belgian solar car - the successor to the BluePoint - with the aim of defending our world title at the biennial world championship in Australia. Known as the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, this one-of-a-kind 3021 km race is a thrilling challenge that pits student teams from top universities around the world against each other to be the first to cross the Australian Outback. Unfortunately, this week the race organizers decided not to have the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge take place this year. The next edition of the World Solar Challenge is scheduled for 2023.
A huge setback for our team that enthusiastically started designing the next solar car, with the positive hope that the world championship could take place next summer.
However, this sad news does not mean that our team will be idle in the coming months. Within a few weeks, we will start production of the next solar car, a car that will be even better and more efficient than all its predecessors. Innovation and developing new technologies for future generations remains a major motivation for the team. Above all, by building the next Belgian solar car, we want to demonstrate that there is a lot of future in sustainable energy and sustainable mobility.
With the World Solar Challenge in Australia cancelled, the team will be looking for a new challenge in the coming weeks to showcase the performance of our next solar car. The cancellation of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge gives us the opportunity to organize a new and innovative challenge.
As soon as there are new advancements in this challenging quest, we will notify everyone about our next racing adventure!
We are immensely grateful for all your support and help during the past months leading up to this race and thank you for your understanding in these exceptional times.