The 1996 World Solar Challenge was an edition of the trans-Australian solar-powered car race across 3,000 km (1,900 mi) of highway through the Australian Outback from Darwin, Northern Territory to Adelaide, South Australia.
It was the fourth such edition of the event, held every three years since 1987.
The race was won by the 'Dream II' car from Honda's research and development team for the second consecutive event, ahead of a combined engineering school team from Biel, Switzerland. Honda broke its own race record, completing the course at an average speed of 89.76 km/h.
Event founder and adventurer Hans Tholstrup sold the event to a winning bid from the South Australian Government following the 1996 edition.
Entrants There were 48 listed entrants as part of the event, with 32 completing the course.
Among those participants were teams from automotive manufacturers Honda and Mitsubishi. The Biel College of Engineering team included contributions from several schools in the Biel-Bienne region. Return competitors and pre-event favourites included Honda, Japanese automotive components manufacturer Aisin Seiki, and the Victoria-based Aurora Vehicle Association.
It also marked the first appearance of the University of New South Wales 'Sunswift' car. Cars were able to be either one or two-seaters.
Route The World Solar Challenge runs across approximately 3,000 km from Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory, to Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.
Results
Place Team name Country Time (hr:mm) Average speed (km/h) Distance (km) 1Honda R&DDream IIJapan33:3289.763010 2United High Schools of BielsCHoolerSwitzerland35:0086.003010 3Aisin Seiki Co LtdAisolJapan37:1880.703010 4MitsubishiMitsubishJapan45:0766.723010 5University of QueenslandSunSharkAustralia46:2464.873010 6Waseda UniversityWasedaJapan46:3864.553010 7Northern Territory UniversityDesert RoseAustralia48:0262.663010 8O.S.U.SimonJapan49:5260.363010 9University of New South WalessUNSWiftAustralia56:3253.243010 10Tokyo Salesian PolytechnicIkuei Neo IIJapan61.2649.003010 11Queens University Canada61.2948.963010 12University of Western OntarioSunstangCanada63.5947.043010 13Tokai HS Japan65.3545.903010 14Mino Family TeamMino Family IVJapan66.5744.963010 15Tokai University Japan67.1044.813010 16Lake Tuggeranong CollegeSpirit of CanberraAustralia67.1544.763010 17Japanese Crested IbisFineJapan67.5144.363010 18SunBa Solar Car TeamSunBaBrazil68.4343.803010 19Team KataroKira Kira Fighter IIIJapan70.1242.883010 20Association HeliosHeliosFrance70.4942.503010 21France for W.S.C.HeliotropeFrance71.3142.903010 22Hokkaido Automo. Eng. CollegeSulis VJapan72.2241.593010 23KirenjakuKirenjakuJapan73.1741.073010 24Nippon Electronics CollegeSonecJapan73.3440.913010 25UC Berkeley / Stanford UniversityAfterburnerUnited States74.1740.523010 26Soenderborg TeknikumSolvogn DanmarkDenmark74.2140.483010 27McGill UniversityNorthern SunCanada74.2540.453010 28Team Jona SunJona SunJapan75.5939.613010 29Yokohama National University Japan80:0437.593010 30Pumpkinseed Japan82:4436.383010 31Annesley College Australia83:5135.903010 32South Bank UniversityMad DogUK84:0435.803010
Retirements/non-finishers Team nameCarCountryDistance (km)Los Altos High School (Hacienda Heights, California) United StatesAkitaHama ZeroJapanMexico TeamTONATIUH México1927.2Detlef SchmitzHelio DetGermany1690Poli SolarCitizen Eco Drive/USPBrazil60AuroraAurora Q1AustraliaFirst day
Pre-race withdrawals Team nameCarCountryTeam Holy CheatHoly Cheat IIUKDripstone High School AustraliaKormilda CollegeAustraliaWinston SchoolUSAFirm ChrisanteItalyUniversity TeknoligiMalaysiaShalom Catholic CollegeGoodlife BugAustraliaPanda SanPanda San 96Japan
Class winners and Awards A number of prizes were awarded following the event as well as recognition of individual class winners.
Silicon PV/Silver Zinc battery class Place Team nameCar Country 1Honda R&DDream IIJapan 2United High Schools of BielsCHoolerSwitzerland 3Aisin Seiki Co LtdAisolJapan
Silicon PV/Lead-acid battery class Place Team nameCar Country 1University of QueenslandSunSharkAustralia 2University of New South WalesSunswiftAustralia 3France for World Solar ChallengeHeliotropeFrance
School class Private class Place Team nameCar Country 1Mino Family TeamMino Family IVJapan 2SunBA Solar Car TeamSunBAJapan 3Team KataroKira Kira Fighter IIIJapan
School Awards Category Team nameCar Country AsiaTokai Technical High SchoolTokai FalconJapan AmericasLos Altos High SchoolSun ShadowUSA EuropeAssociation of HeliosHeliosFranceAustraliaAnnesley CollegeEOSAustralia Other Awards Category Team nameCar Country Best Amorphous Japanese Crested IbisFineJapan Renewable Materials AwardTeam Jona SunJona SunJapan Mal Trainer Battler AwardSouth Bank UniversityMad DogUKGM Sunraycer Award for Technical InnovationUniversity of QueenslandSunSharkAustraliaKatherine Clunies Ross AwardLos Altos High SchoolSun ShadowUSA References