Long-time Michigan Solar Car Team mentor Chito Garcia shakes the hand of Tokai’s driver after the Japanese team overtook Aurum with 30 miles to go, nabbing third place. Photo by Evan Dougherty.
Because this was such a tight race, penalties may have played a role in the outcome.
As we've said before, this was the closest World Solar Challenge in the race's history. In 2013, Nuon won by several hours. But his time, it won by minutes and the top five teams finished within 80 minutes.
To get a better understanding of how penalty calls are made and what exactly happened with the top teams this year, we talked to chief safety officer, Peter Schloithe.
An incident between first- and second-place teams Nuon and Twente was much discussed after the race. The teams finished just minutes apart. Twente reports that its solar car driver had to slam on the brakes after Nuon's car merged back into its lane after passing. The vehicles were approaching a no-passing zone.
"We had to brake to make it safe," said Twente spokesperson Justine Wolters. "It didn't feel right. We don't want to look like bad losers, but it's still a bit sad that it had to be like this."
Passing opponents on the road is obviously fine, but it's not supposed to require solar cars to brake. Accelerating back up to intended set speed uses more energy than maintaining speed, and these cars are playing to finish with empty batteries. They don't have extra energy to burn.
Schloithe confirmed that it occurred, but he said GPS data shows Twente speeding up during the maneuver (which is a no-no), leaving the fault of the incident ambiguous. Ruling on the field: no penalty.
If you've been following here, you know about the incident with the squads jockeying for third—Michigan and Tokai. To recap: Tokai's Challenger solar car attempted to pass Michigan's caravan before Michigan had confirmed it was safe. Challenger pulled into the passing lane, only to be greeted by an oncoming vehicle. Challenger quickly veered back to safety, but in the process, ran Michigan's Chase vehicle off the road. "Their solar car was our Chase vehicle for a while," said Perry Benson on the Michigan team.
Photo courtesy of Punch Powertrain.
Tokai apparently served 15 minutes for it. And this was its second penalty. Tokai appealed, arguing that a tarp in a trailer behind Michigan's vehicle was obscuring its radio channel. Didn't fly with the refs. That said, Schloithe doesn't think 15 minutes was enough, considering the severity of the incident. (While he is the chief safety officer, it’s the clerk of the course who decides how long penalties will be.)
"I think they should have gotten more time for that," he said.
Why didn't they? Perhaps because the clerk ruled on it prior to receiving any photos or video footage of it, he explained. In any case, it's too late to change the ruling.
Tokai, which beat Michigan by about four minutes, got 15 for its second penalty. Punch Powertrain was held back a full hour for abruptly overtaking another team. It already had been given a short penalty for its media vehicle driving recklessly. The team appealed, to no avail.
Punch finished in fifth place with a time of 39 hours and 19 minutes. It came in just 24 minutes after Michigan. Had its 1-hour penalty been more like 15 minutes, the place order could have been different.
Since questionable moves are a part of solar car racing in the same way they are part of football, a process for both assigning penalties and protesting them are baked into the design of the race. Observers who ride with the teams watch their behavior on the road. They report any sketchy or unsafe actions to mission control back in Adelaide. Observers always give written descriptions. They include photos or video if they have it. Then the clerk of the course decides how long to detain the penalized team at its next mandatory control stop.
The process is quite subjective. It depends on how an incident is described, and, also, how jumpy an observer is. The fact that there's not always visual evidence means it isn't always a just process. And there's no rubric to help observers assess severity or for the clerk to standardize penalty times. The American Solar Challenge rules are a bit more regimented in that regard.
Schloithe says the WSC has looked at standardizing penalties, but they haven't been able to come up with anything workable.
"I'd still like to see a scale," he said. But I don't know how to do it to make it fair. Every incident is so different."
The teams are not dwelling on the technicalities.
“Before the race, if you had said I’d be happy with fourth, I’d have said ‘absolutely not,’” said Michigan’s Michael Katz. “But having seen how tough this race is and how much we fought for it, I’m proud of how we finished.”
Post by Nicole Casal Moore, Michigan Engineering science writer (@ncm140) and Cara Gonzalez, Michigan Engineering web writer (@bookofcara).
Below: In keeping with tradition, students from Michigan and Tokai jump in the fountain near Victoria Square in Adelaide at the finish line. Photo by Evan Dougherty.
