Arrival in Morocco and start of prepartions in Ben Guerir

Arrival in Morocco - everything went smoothly

For the Solar Challenge Morocco 2021 we travel as a whole team from Aachen with car and workshop to Morocco; divided into several groups which fly to Morocco at different times. The first group set foot on the African continent already on 8th of October. With rental car we went directly to the hostel in Marrakech, which was completely booked by us.

The second group had some difficulties with the entry on 12th October. After their landing, the 7 students were waved out of the airport directly at customs. They had engine parts for the Photon in their luggage, which did not make it into the container. Fortunately there were no major problems and everything could be solved after some back and forth. Speaking of the container; we used a logistics company to transport the Covestro Photon, the workshop and the other equipment. The container was loaded in our workshop in Aachen to be unloaded a few days ago in Ben Guerir, near Marrakesh, with the help of friendly locals and a pick-up truck.

We were very kindly welcomed in Morocco by the students and faculty of the Mohamed VI University and were given permission to set up camp and test on the Green Energy Park site.

Testing at the Green Energy Park - this is where the sun shines

The Green Energy Park is a research area for renewable energy. Here we have setup our portable workshop and have a test track at our disposal. Our kitchens and lounges are in very unique houses: they were designed as research projects to demonstrate sustainable ways of building and living in settlements. Around the houses there lots of cats running around, of which we initially had two named, but quickly realized that due to their huge numbers, it's easy to lose track of them. We are also an interesting distraction in their daily lives, but they are most interested in the Covestro Photon and our equipment. We have been getting the Covestro Photon ready for racing for the last few days and have already started testing it today ( 14th October). However, our time on site is numbered, as we will be traveling on to Agadir tomorrow, Friday 15th October, to make our final race preparations for the remaining 10 days.

Outlook - hoping for sunny weather

Tomorrow morning, we will split up to practice convoy driving on a detour to Agadir with one part of the team, while the other part will go directly to Agadir to prepare everything there. We will set up camp in the stadium of the city where the Solar Challenge Morocco will start 10 days later. We are looking forward to many more exciting days in this beautiful country and hope for a successful testing in Agadir.

Until then, sunny greetings from the whole team!