Aurora-II sets Sunrayce Record THREE Times during Sunrayce 95

In October of 1994, Richard King, Chairperson of the Sunrayce Board of Governors, asked teams to make predictions on Sunrayce 95. He made some very good points that old Sunrayce records would be broken. No one, not even Richard King, knew how prolific those words would be.

Richard King predicted that the record for the fastest single day of racing will be broken. In GM Sunrayce USA in 1990, California State University- Los Angeles established the record for the fastest day with an average speed of 37 mph thoughout the 75-mile first day. Cal. State LA.. then broke it's own record in Sunrayce 93 with an average speed of 43 mph on day seven which was 89 miles.

The world record for the fastest day of solar car racing is held by Honda Motor Company. On the second day of the 1993 World Solar Challenge, Honda's "Dream" drove 500 miles in 9 hours, for an average speed of 55 mph.

Because of the route in Australia, and no speed limit, that record will be hard to match in America. However, Mr. King predicted that we will see average speeds of 45-50 mph on the 1st, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th days. How true these words were.

Sunrayce 95 became the first solar    
car race in the world where the officials had to worry about enforcement of the speed limit for the first time EVER. Imagine nearly 30 vehicles going across secondary highways across the US. at the speed limit, and even faster if they could coerce a little more power out of their racers.

On day 3 Aurora-II upped the fastest single day of racing to 43.7 mph in a day that was 162 miles long. Virtually the same speed as the Cal State- LA record over nearly twice the distance.

The team would not rest on it's laurels, and went ahead on day 4 of the race and moved the mark a little bit farther. On Day 4 the team covered 145 miles at an average speed of 47.73 miles per hour. What's really unusual is that the team with their focus on the overall race standings did not even realize they set the record twice in two days until two months AFTER Sunrayce 95.

However, the team definitely realized they set a new record on Day 7 of Sunrayce. The team completed the 165 mile leg with an average speed of 50.5 mph. The team is truly pleased to hold such a record. Without our sponsors and Executive Advisory Committees support and insight, the team would not have been able to leave such a mark on the world of solar car racing.