Solar car challenge begins in Darwin, Australia, with contestants from around the world ready for the "green" race through Australia.


DARWIN, AUSTRALIA (OCTOBER 25, 2009) GLOBAL GREEN CHALLENGE POOL - Thirty-two solar powered vehicles set off from Darwin, Australia on Sunday (October 25) embarking on a 3,000 kilometre race across the Australian outback.
The competitors, from 16 different countries, were excited to be part of the event. The Saguar team from Turkey have been planning be part of the race for five years.

"We wanted to enter the World Solar Challenge since the beginning of our team but we only race in our nation of Turkey races. So this is exciting for us to enter the World Solar Challenge," said Surak Aliefendiogla from the Turkish team.

"Aurora101," the Australian entrant took off first. The only United Kingdom team, the Endeavour - from Cambridge University, is a favourite to win.

The solar cars are expected to take three days to complete the race which ends in the South Australian city of Adelaide.

The Chairman of the South Australian Motor Sport Challenge, Roger Cook, said the race had become very topical.

"It is exciting. I mean it's the culmination of two years of work for the solar cars and for the green cars and I think the people involved in it are really aware of what this is doing for the world, the improvements and technology, the world focus on emissions," explained Cook.

All the teams had a smooth start on Sunday (October 25), even through the Netherlands team, Nuna5, rolled their vehicle during a test run on Saturday (October 24). However the team managed to repair the shell and rear tyre before the official start on Sunday.

The solar race is part of the "Global Green Challenge" which holds a separate race called the "Eco Challenge" which sees eco-friendly vehicles such as electric, hybrid, low-emission and alternative-energy vehicles compete.