6-25-97
Contact:
Skip Derra, News Service, (515) 294-4917
TEAM PRISUM CRUISES COMFORTABLY ON DAY 6 OF
SUNRAYCE
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University's Team PrISUm relied on a
"comfortable cruising" strategy to push its ExCYtor car
across the finish line today during Sunrayce 97. ExCYtor was
the 26th car to finish the 150-mile leg from Manhattan, Kan.,
to Smith's Center, Kan.
MIT was first to cross the finish line today, completing the
leg in 3 hours, 15 minutes and 53 seconds, for an average
speed of about 46 mph. The University of Minnesota was second
and Stanford University/UC Berkeley was third. Iowa State
completed the leg in 6 hours, 58 minutes and 36 seconds
(average speed of 21.5 mph). These unofficial times do not
include any penalties assessed to the teams.
"We kept the car at a comfortable cruising speed of 30 to 35
mph because we didn't want to do anything to the motor
controller," said Jim Hill, faculty advisor to Team PrISUm.
Yesterday, Team PrISUm's motor controller malfunctioned and
the team spent several hours replacing it with a motor
controller salvaged from a previous ISU solar car.
"Our focus was on completing the day under own power," Hill
said. "We wanted to err on the side of caution." He added
that the car's solar array is working at its peak, converting
sunlight to electricity and recharging the batteries.
Iowa State began the day in 29th place after five days of
racing. They were only 16 minutes behind the 28th team,
California State University - Long Beach.
Tomorrow's leg of Sunrayce will be from Smith Center to St.
Francis, Kan., a distance of 166 miles.
Sunrayce 97 coincides with the week of the summer solstice.
The 1,230-mile race began June 19 in Indianapolis and ends
June 28 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
- 30 -
Editors:
The ISU News Service will provide daily updates on Team PrISUm to reporters covering the race. Contact Skip Derra, (515) 294-4917 or (515) 255-3422 (home).
Official race standings and times can be obtained by accessing the Sunrayce web site at http://www.sunrayce.com/.
Iowa State homepage
University Relations, online@iastate.edu
Copyright © 1997, Iowa State University, all rights
reserved
URL:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/releases/sr97day6.html
Revised
6/26/97