The University of Queensland solar car, SunShark, remained in overall first place today in day three of the 1790km CitiPower SunRace from Sydney to Melbourne.
SunShark finished the third leg, 230km from Wagga Wagga to Hay, just one and a half minutes behind the Aurora 101. Overall SunShark remains 20 minutes ahead of the second-placed team, the University of New South Wales' Sunswift.
"Today was a very close race, with the top four cars finishing the leg within about five minutes of each other," team manager Alana Maher said.
"We had a few set-backs because we got stuck behind slow cars. There is just one carriageway out here so there are few opportunities for passing.
"We were running through mostly 110km/h zones today, but unfortunately we couldn't maintain that speed due to other traffic." (SunShark's maximum speed capability is 120km/h.)
SunShark took first place in the first race leg from Sydney to Canberra on Sunday and finished first again in the second race leg from Canberra to Wagga Wagga on Monday.
Ms Maher said the team expected good conditions for day four's 290km trip from Hay to Mildura - the longest leg of the race.
SunRace, the annual Australian solar car and electric vehicle challenge, is an open road event running from Sydney to Melbourne via Canberra and travelling inland to Mildura through some of Australian harshest outback country and busiest regional cities.
Now in its fourth year, SunRace aims to promote renewable energy to the widest possible audience and to encourage the development and use of practical everyday electric vehicles.
This week's race legs are as follows: February 16 - Hay to Mildura via Balranald and Euston; February 17 - Mildura to Swan Hill via Ouyen and Managatang; February 18 - Swan Hill to Bendigo via Cohuna and Rochester; February 19 - Bendigo to Albert Park via Heathcote and Wallan.
For more information, contact Alana Maher (telephone 0402 049 713).
