Golden, CO, June 29, 1995 -- After 1,150 miles and nine days of racing, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finished first in Sunrayce 95, just 18 minutes in front of second place University of Minnesota, the closest Sunrayce finish ever.
MIT took the overall lead from Cal Poly Pomona the second day of racing and never relinquished it, averaging a record 37.23 mph for the entire race distance. (Michigan's winning average speed in 1993 was 27.29 mph.) MIT withstood strong challenges from several teams, but the biggest challenge came on the final day when rain slowed the team, allowing Minnesota an unexpected chance to win the race.
However, MIT's "Manta" had just enough stored energy to hold off the surprising Minnesota team over the final 52-mile leg from Aurora, CO to Golden.
On Day 7, from Smith Center, KS to St. Francis, KS (163 miles) The University of Minnesota finished first and shattered the existing single day record of 43 mph average speed. Minnesota finished the day averaging just over 50 mph! Many teams were capable of maintaining the 55 mph speed limits, creating the fastest Sunrayce ever.
The students were terrific, the best group we have ever worked with. They all deserve a hearty congratulations.
Sunrayce 95 is a biennial collegiate solar car race sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors to promote student interest in technology and the environment. This year's race began in Indianapolis June 20 and finished in Golden, CO June 29. For more information please contact Richard King at 202-586-1693.
OVERALL RESULTS TOTAL ELAPSED TIME AVE. MPH 1. MIT 33:37:11 37.23 2. Univ. of Minnesota 33:56:00 36.88 3. Cal Poly-Pomona 37:03:43 33.77 4. George Washington Univ. 38:55:29 32.15 5. Stanford University 42:47:12 29.25 6. Queens University 43:23:25 28.84 7. Northern Essex Com. Col. 8. Western Michigan University 9. Mankato & Winona State Univ. 10.University of Missouri-Columbia 11.Drexel University 12.University of Maryland 13.University of Puerto Rico 14.Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. 15.Kauai Community Col. Hawaii 16.South Dakota School of Mines & Tech 17.Purdue University 18.Clarkson University 19.Iowa State 20.University of Waterloo 21.University of Western Ontario 22.Messiah College 23.University of Oklahoma 24.Montana State University 25.University of Illinois 26.United States Military Academy 27.Texas A&M University 28.Mercer University 29.University of Mexico -Mexico City 30.Univ. of Missouri-Rolla 31.Columbus State Comm. Col. 32.Cal State-Long Beach 33.Ohio State 34.Univ. of Pennsylvania 35.Virginia Tech 36.Prairie View A&M University 37.University of Quebec (withdrew) 38.University of Michigan (withdrew)