KARO III

After a podium finish in my first year of the event, my expectations were just as high for this year. After seeing many different designs, I was struggling to decide on which was best. On KARO, we focused mainly on weight, and our car was super light because of the material and general size. On KARO II, we mainly focused on stability, but I thought that I should focus more on aerodynamics as it was what the previous cars were missing.

I first thought of more difficult shaped body that will still comprehend with the new cargo area rule; that you must fit a 2L milk carton either vertical or horizontal, whichever way you wanted. And already a problem arises! I misinterpreted the rules and thought that the 2L milk carton must fit in both directions, and I didn't realize until the actual race day!

I thought of building my first balsa car, as it was a cheap, light and easily bought material. To cover up KARO II's flaws in stability, I decided to build a 'one piece' body, meaning that the sidewalls, cabin and back were all one piece of balsa. I went for a simple teardrop, or water drop design with the curved surface being the cabin. I bent the balsa by putting it in hot water and slowly bending it and leaving it to dry in the desired shape. To make my car even lighter, I went for a chassis instead of a solid base. Two 8mm aluminum rods ran through the centre of the car. At two certain points, balsa blocks were fitted in which held the guide pegs and the axles. The rest of the base was made from a carbon fibre vinyl for a light, good-looking option. I decided to make it a four-wheeler, but making front wheel drive rather than rear wheel. New Jay Car solar modules were also purchased as well as a new maximizer. 

KARO III was finally built and it was looking quite promising. On top of the balsa, I put a carbon fibre vinyl, to continue the carbon fibre legacy. Arriving early at UNSW, I only saw one car there, and I began to giggle, as it was very thin. I thought to myself, 'a 2L milk carton wont fit in there in both directions!'. Another two cars came, both long and thin. At that point I stopped and thought, 'oops, what have I done now!'. I sprinted to the scrutinizers nervously asking the biggest question on my mind, probably the smallest for the model solar car challenge. 'Does the milk carton have to fit in both directions?'. The scrutinizer grinned and 'No, look it says it here...' was the answer I got, and it wasn't what I wanted. I had to run the qualifying day with a car double the width of almost everyone else's car! After qualifying day, I finished a solid third, my best run being 20.03, creeping in on my first ever 'teens' run. I new I had a lot of work to do, so the saw came out, and the cutting began!

TThe next day I came to the track after cutting my car in half and bending it back to shape, literally. My car was thinner, therefore more aerodynamic, meaning less air drag, and I also shortened the wheel base for better cornering speed, hopefully a better car. My first run was one of the most anxious, I didn't know if I destroyed the car or made it better. The time came in, 18.7! I jumped up and didn't stop for minutes. I also got the fastest time so far in the day. Next run, 18.4! The joy kept coming until I ran an 18.01, at that moment I couldn't breath. KARO III fought through four rounds of opponents, not losing one race, all the way to the Grand Final where I was to race against top qualifiers, Stealth, my most feared competitors. Best of five, the races begin! First run, I had outside lane first corner, and won the race by less than a second. The pressure was on! Second run, even closer, a true photo finish, just winning that race as well. Although I had won the first two races, I had realized that they were coming closer, and that was shown in the next race were the distance between the cars were the same as the last race, but Stealth came out in front. Now I was really terrified. Last minute prayers before the race, the cars set off. It came down to the final corner where I had the inside lane.

'And the winner is...KARO III!' The moment I thought would never come. My heart was going a million miles per second, and it took some time to the feeling to actually sink in that I won the 2009 Sunsprint Challenge, and I couldn't have done it alone. Thank you to everyone who mentored me along the day and to the Efthymiou II team that didn't stop cheering the whole day and got the 'Best team spirit award'. A huge thanks to my sponsors PRE Race Engines and ASV Computing for their support.