I got lazy over the rest of the WSC, and as a result, I’m writing this about a week after it all finished. After heading in to the start line in Alice, I talked to the observer’s manager there, and mentioned I’d had a pretty slow race so far. They sent me up to Glendambo, which is the last control point where the drivers change over. In other words, I got sent right up the front!

As we drove down the road, we passed the front runners several times changing tyres. We also stopped in that evening for a “team meeting” (beer) with Jim, who was their observer. What an amazing operation they are! Very very organised. Calm. The way things should be done.

Peter, Brian, David and I spent a night out in the dessert, built a nice fire, ate steaks on the grill on an open fire, and generally lived it up. Bloody good.

We drove for a day and a half to get to Glendambo, and then waited for Nuon to turn up. And turn up they did, with their fancy media contingent, semi-trailer full of support gear, etc, etc. Peter got in with them, and I hung around and waited for the second-runners, Umicore, from Belgium, to turn up. I got in with them. We drove down to Port Augusta, where they had to make a few running repairs. We then headed on until 5:00, when their batteries were dead and they stopped for the night.

They didn’t speak of much other than their girlfriends (who were waiting in Adelaide) and the Belgian Beer Cafe (also waiting in Adelaide).

We arrived at the finish line the next morning, where I met up with David, Zoe, James and Scott from Tritium, and spent the next few days with them. The next few days, as most of the post-race days have been in the past, were a blur of parties, talking solar cars, wine tasting, and what couldda and shouldda. We’ve all got ideas. Particularly when it comes to master’s teams, and the South African Solar Challenge, which is coming up in September next year!

Sunswift came in 9th, the same as in 2005, but at a slower pace (5km/h slower at 67km/h) than last year. Their official 9th is a big step up from our unofficial 9th though. I’m not exactly sure how the slower happened - they seemed to have a solid suspension, steering, etc, but the canopy was big, and the array wasn’t putting out a lot of power. It also looked like they ran without the rear wheel spat for the whole trip, which is a bit odd! It also sounds like they didn’t have telemetry for most of the race, which is also odd. Will have to ask them about what happened.

But... Despite all that, they won the Technical Achievement award. Its a prestigious award, but it would be nice to know what the decision process was there. It was hard seeing them get it after I’d been so keen to get it in the previous three races -- there’s a lot of politics involved methinks.

The party following the awards ceremony was fantastic! Lots of beer, good people, very friendly. Generally a fantastic night, although the hangover the next day was a more than a little painful, particularly regarding the flight back to Adelaide.

Overall, the observer experience was awesome, and I’ve come home with plenty of ideas for improving the state of the art. Just need to work out what I really want to spend my time on. Whatever happens, I know I’ll be back for the challenge in 2009. :-).

More photos here and here.