World Solar Challenge kicks off, PHL’s entry started on pole position

The bi-annual World Solar Challenge race in Australia has just kicked off. Among the 24 countries that are vying for this year’s title, our very own Sikat II-A was chosen by the organization to start in pole position after finishing first in the Adventure class in the pre-race qualifying round.

Carl Mamawa of De La Salle University and driver of the Sikat II-A said that he’s “ecstatic that we reached the coveted pole position. The whole team has prepared hard for the past few days so I’m very happy.”

sikat ii-a

Since the team started competing back in 2007, this is the best outing that we’ve seen from them which serves as a testament of the team’s dedication to win the tournament. However, it’s not going to be a stroll in the park as they are up against Team Tokai of Japan which have won the two previous events and are now looking for a three-peat this year.

The 3,021-kilometer race started at Darwin, Australia and will end on October 11 in Adelaide. Given that this race is for solar-powered cars, the competing teams are only allowed to race between 8:00am to 5:00pm every day and will just setup camp where they stopped. The first car to conquer the Australian outback will take home the tourney’s grand prize.

source, image source

Ronnie Bulaong

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

https://www.yugatech.com

30 Comments

Justin says:

11 years ago

Meh… that’s just pole position.

It would have been more noteworthy news if they actually WON 1st place.
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lilboyblue says:

11 years ago

You do understand that the race is still to finish on the 11th of october right? So there’s no winner yet.. On that note, you do understand what pole position is and what this article is reporting on…right?
Justin says:

11 years ago

@lilboyblue: Dude, I understand the article 100% and I know that the actual race is on the 11th (naka-lagay nga sa article). My point is simply that capturing pole position (or garnering the best start position… yan! dinescribe ko pa) is not news-worthy enough, since it’s not considered an accomplishment yet. The last position racer could easily win the race.

Pag-dating ng 11th… at NANALO ang DLSU sa actual race… THEN, that would be a good time to write an article and showcase their achievements. Gets?
HK-47 says:

11 years ago

Yes, it’s the race that matters in the end. But that does not mean that qualifying on pole is not an achievement in and of itself.

A note to the author:
The team was not CHOSEN by some committee to start on pole, they EARNED the pole by posting the fastest time in qualifying. The way this article was written makes it sound like the former.
lilboyblue says:

11 years ago

Thank you, HK-47. Your first paragraph is on point. I’ll leave it at that.
wew says:

11 years ago

HK-47’s right =)
Justin says:

11 years ago

@HK-47 et al: So tell me, do they hand out awards to those who ‘earned’ their pole position? No. Do they hand out awards to those who win 1st (or 2nd or 3rd) place? Yes.

No award = not (much of) an achievement. Case closed.
bobomojustin says:

11 years ago

bobo mo.
Justin says:

11 years ago

@bobomojustin: Really? That’s all you can say? With that response, are you sure it’s not the other way around?
wew says:

11 years ago

@Justin hindi po kailangan magkaroon ng award ang isang ginawa para matawag na achievement. Tska actually may kapalit naman un ah, un ay ang pagpili sa kanila sa pole position. Di mo naman matatawag na mababaw o malalim ang achievement eh, nasa sau un kung ganu kataas ang standards mo.Kung ikaw kaya ung driver, tapos ikaw unang natapos at nabigyan ng ganyan, di ka ba matutuwa sa nagawa mo at maraming nagcocongratulate sau?yan kasi hirap sa mga makikitid utak eh imbis na palakasin ang loob ng mga lumalaban dinodown pa.
Squirt says:

11 years ago

I have to agree with Justin here.
The article could’ve been written in a way that it’s focused on the event itself and informing the readers that there’s a certain solar race happening in Australia, and that the Philippines has an entry named Sikat blah blah, what’s the race about, who started it, what was like last year’s race etc etc.. and maybe just squeeze in the article that we earned a pole position.
Tata says:

11 years ago

So what’s wrong sa sinabi ni Justin? Wala naman ah, tapos ang dami nang blah blah against sa kanya. Pinoy talaga ugali at pag iisip ng mga ilan regular nag cocomment dito.

Digest says:

11 years ago

I remember the competition from the movie “Race the Sun”.
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jesson says:

11 years ago

what would be the winners prize.
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Abdul Jakul says:

11 years ago

i hope they didn’t purchase those panels at CDR King hehe
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Mr. Curious says:

11 years ago

WHOOO ANIMO LASALLE! hahaha =D
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Milhouse says:

11 years ago

^ Yes indeed! Animo La Salle!
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sajith says:

11 years ago

Welcome to Australia. All the best for your team

Regards
Sajith
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lionell says:

11 years ago

visit up to date position here http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/dashboard/map
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AsusFan says:

11 years ago

Started pole, currently on the 29th after day 1…

http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/team/view/39
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Adamson says:

11 years ago

Hope you comrad would take home medals…
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Lou says:

11 years ago

Ang sa kinikinita ko lamang naman, kailangan bang bigyan ng parangal para matawag na ‘achievement’ ang isang bagay? Parang hindi naman yata.
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wew says:

11 years ago

tama ka lou…

verif_engr says:

11 years ago

Congratulations to Team Sikat II they finished 3rd place in the adventure class.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/330640/scitech/science/sikat-ii-finishes-third-in-2013-world-solar-challenge
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