Today marks the start of the Sasol Solar Challenge, with the race kicking off from the CSIR in Pretoria. All the participating 13 teams will be embarking on a 5 400 km journey across South Africa over an 11 day period, within their custom designed and constructed solar powered vehicles.

Local teams participating in this eco race include ones from the University of the Witwatersrand, University of Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, North West University, German School in Johannesburg, University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Tshwane University of Technology.

International teams include ones from Tokai University and Kenjiro Shinozuka in Japan as well as Delhi University from India.

From Pretoria, the teams will make their way through the North West and Northern Cape provinces, before reaching Cape Town at the end of this week. An Open Day will be held at Canal Walk Shopping Centre on 22 September, whereby members of the public will be able to meet the teams and get a closer look at their cars.

Following the Open Day in the Mother City, the teams will head up the picturesque N2, travelling through Oudshoorn, Port Elizabeth as well as East London, before joining the N6 to Bloemfontein.

Upon leaving Bloemfontein, the teams will make their way past Harrismith, stopping over at Midlands Mall in Pietermaritzburg, before embarking upon the final leg of the race. This final leg has them stopping over in Secunda, before reaching their final destination back in Pretoria on 28 September.

“We are excited to see the race finally underway. This is the realisation of many months of hard planning and we trust that the teams will find the route challenging as well as fun,” said Winstone Jordaan, Sasol Solar Challenge race organiser.

Maurice Radebe, group executive of Sasol added: “This is a fine example of how we can see the benefits of harnessing the power of the sun and demonstrate the flexibility of solar power. We wish the teams the best of luck.”

Follow the Sasol Solar Challenge on Twitter (@solar_challenge), Facebook and online on  www.sasolarchallenge.co.za.