Vice European Champions

After a very exciting but also exhausting 24 hours the iLumen European Solar Challenge 2021 comes to an end – We are Vice European Champion with the Covestro Sonnenwagen!

At 1 pm on Saturday 18.9. the 24h race started with a spectacular Le Mans style start and all 14 solar cars started into the race. With the Covestro Sonnenwagen we were able to quickly settle into third place, with the Covestro Photon just behind. In the best weather, we were able to go lap by lap. Every two hours the drivers changed and were able to rest before their next stint. Around 10 a.m. it was time for the Covestro Sonnenwagen and we drove to the charging area. There we were able to fully charge the 5kWh battery again and after 1.5h we were back on the race track. In the meantime we had firmly established ourselves as the team with the third most laps and had more than 20 laps gap to the back and to the front. Therefore, early in the morning of the race Sunday, we decided to charge again and have the maximum power to attempt the fastest lap. With 2:50 minutes, our lead driver Kevin Luinge set the fastest lap of the entire iESC2021 with the Covestro Sonnenwagen, earning the team more points for the overall ranking.

At 1 p.m. the next morning, the Covestro Sonnenwagen crossed the finish line with 1100 kilometers raced. With this we made it and got the 2nd place in the iLumen European Solar Challenge 2021. We are happy to have shown the full potential of the Covestro Sonnenwagen.

We drove more than 500 kilometers with the Covestro Photon during the 24 hours. Due to electrical problems, we had to make some longer pit stops and were not yet able to show the true strength of our latest solar race car on the track. During the first test under real racing conditions, we were able to train with the Covestro Photon and the team in the best possible way for the big challenge in Morocco. We are taking the experience we have gained with us into our preparations for the Solar Challenge Morocco – because now all our attention is focused on the Morocco Solar Challenge 2021, where we are also aiming for a strong podium finish.

We still have a lot of work to do before the race starts in Morocco in mid-October. We will test and perfect the Covestro Photon, pack everything we need for the time between the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara, and then head off in smaller teams step by step to Agadir, the start and finish of the Solar Challenge in Morocco. Look forward to the next blog posts from Morocco!