After 3,010 kilometers and over 48 hours of racing through some of the most desolate countryside in the world, the World Solar Challenge for 1999 is officially over for the top placed 10 teams. We have received reports that Aurora 101, the team from Melbourne, Australia, is this year's World Solar Car Champions. Our congratulation goes out to them and their entire team.

   Close on their heels was Queens University from Ontario, Canada, coming in to the final checkpoint only 30 minutes behind Aurora 101.

   Our team has placed 9th overall in the world and we are the 2nd US team to cross the finish line. Officially, we crossed the timing station at 2:04pm (12:30am EST) and finished in downtown Adelaide a few kilometers further down the road.

   Overall, we are very happy to be ranked one of the top 10 solar cars teams in the world and feel very privileged to have competed with such incredible competition. This year's race was just incredibly amazing. For example, there was only 45 minutes between us and the next ranked team, MIT and only 6 hours between us and the leaders. We have even heard reports that the 10th and 11th placed teams came in just seconds apart. For a 3,000-kilometer race, having teams finish only seconds between each other shows just how tough the competition has been.

   On the last day of the race, we had a few problems. Our motor controller cables became detached and we had to stop for a total of 15 minutes. However, this makes our total pit stop time a miniscule 17 minutes over the 48 hours of WSC. We are extremely happy with the performance and the mechanical reliability of the car that we have spent the last two years designing.

   All of this would not be possible without the help many people. We would like to thank the University Administrators, Dean Director and Dean Jones from the College of Engineering, Lynne Cargo at the Engineering Development Office , along with Don Theopolis, and Lisa Payton at the College of Engineering.

   We would also like to thank President Bollinger, the Regents of the University and all of our sponsors for giving us this opportunity to compete in such an amazing event.

   In addition, thanks goes out to all of the wonderful people who has helped us in Australia and to all of our team members who have been working very hard in Ann Arbor to support us throughout the race. We would also like to menti on the members of past and present solar car projects who have been instrumental to us by giving their advice and technical knowledge throughout the years.

   A special thanks goes to Chuck Hutchins, president and founder of MDSI, for coming to Australia with us and being one of the team's greatest supporters. And finally, many thanks goes to Dean Smith, our faculty advisor, who has supported us for over 10 years from the birth of solar car racing at the University to the maturity that the sport has reached today.

   So, until we see you all again, thanks for all your support and G'day mates!