On 21 October the famous World Solar Challenge will start again. This is a race across Australia for solar-powered vehicles. With the start in Darwin and the finish in Adelaide, the race covers a gruelling 3010 km across the Australian desert. The objective of the World Solar Challenge is to stimulate research into the use of solar energy.

A team of students of the Saxion college and the University of Twente, the Solar Team Twente, will participate in this race. The construction of the "Solutra", the solar-powered vehicle of the Solar Team Twente is right on schedule. The car is being built in one of Thales Nederland's production halls. As most of Thales workforce are used to working with high-tech systems, the team receives a lot of attention. Some enthusiast Thales employees even advise and assist the solar team to get the car ready in time for shipment to Australia, but the car itself will naturally be built by the students.

Two years ago the University of Twente delegated a team to the World Solar Challenge for the first time. The team then finished on a promising ninth place. The experiences gained in this effort are valuable for the present participation, although the car had to be completely redesigned as the 2007 regulations require the driver to assume a sitting position, rather than the more aerodynamically optimal lying position of the 2005 car.