Vattenfall Solar Team out of the starting blocks for the Australia solar race

The 17 members of the Vattenfall Solar Team are putting their studies at TU Delft to one side for a year so they can focus entirely on building their new solar car: Nuna11. When they applied for a coveted spot in the team last summer, the world was already in the throes of the Coronavirus pandemic. The current lockdown and Covid-19 measures across the globe are, so to speak, a dark cloud hanging over the international solar racing world. October is a while away, though, and the team feels hopeful.

"The Covid measures in Australia are really strict, but skipping a year isn't a big deal" emphasises Christiaan Wiers, team leader.  "It's simple, actually: if the race goes ahead soon, there's no way we won't be part of it. So we're working flat out, on the assumption that the race will go ahead."

Covid-safe building

The Coronavirus measures make building the car this year even more challenging. The team have mostly been working on their design from home for the last few months and only meet when they really need to. When they did meet, it was in small groups following self-imposed strict Coronavirus protocols based on RIVM guidelines. Despite this, the team is still on track, says team leader Wiers: "Since we met each other last summer there hasn't been a time when all seventeen of us have met at once. Not even for the team photo! It's put together out of separate photos. That makes the team process quite the challenge! Fortunately, former coach for the Dutch national women’s field hockey team Marc Lammers took part in this year's teambuilding. The online sessions we have with him are really motivating - we've really grown as a team and are so enthusiastic about the project!"