World Solar Challenge 1993

In the 1993 World Solar Challenge, the first five cars eclipsed the race record set in 1987 by General Motor's Sunraycer. Aurora Q1 was one of the five. Aurora Q1 crossed the finish line in 5th place in a time of 43:00 hours, only 25 minutes behind third placed Kyocera Son of Sun. Once again, they were the first Australian team to cross the finish line.

The 1993 Car

 

This car went to the Sunswift team at UNSW for the 1996 race. Our backup car (the prototype for Aurora Q1) went to Lake Tuggeranong College (a senior high school in Canberra) and was re-named Spirit of Canberra for the 1996 race.

Race Results

PlacingTeamCarOriginTimeSpeed
1stHonda R & DDreamJapan35:28 h:m84.96 km/h
2ndIngenieurschule BielSpirit of Biel/Bienne IIISwitzerland38:30 h:m78.27 km/h
3rdKyocera CorporationSon of SunJapan42:35 h:m70.76 km/h
4thWaseda UniversitySky Blue WasedaJapan42:50 h:m70.35 km/h
5thAuroraAurora Q1Australia43:00 h:m70.08 km/h
6thToyota Motor CoporationToyota-56Japan46:34 h:m64.71 km/h