Mad Dog fights to the finish

MAD Dog III, London's entry in the World Solar Challenge across Australia, fought back from an Outback crash to reach the finish in Adelaide in record time, writes Sue Baker.

The wafer-shaped 200kg car, driven in relays by a team from South Bank University, was badly damaged when a rear tyre burst and caused it to veer off the road two days into the weeklong, 1,880-miles event.

"It was caused by a blow-out in the single rear tyre, which made the front pivot round out of control," said team leader Nigel Burgess. "Unluckily for us, the car hit the only road sign for miles. It destroyed some bodywork, bent suspension units and caused mechanical and electrical damage."

After 14 university students and staff worked in relays through the night to repair the car, it rejoined the race and finished in 16th place - which was one-anda-half days faster than the team's performance in the event two years ago.

It was a great performance for the London team competing on a shoestring budget, and a car fuelled only by sun power to charge its batteries. The race was won by Nuna, a big-budget Dutch car equipped with the latest lithium polymer batteries.

Copyright 2001
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.