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BP SOLAR CHALLENGE

So great was the interest in the Quiet Achiever's crossing of Australia that almost immediately discussions took place of a solar car challenge, although a few years would elapsed before that became a reality.

Snooks was deeply involved in the administration for the BP Solar Challenge, as the following shows. However, before the event could be conducted Snooks went his way to conduct the Wynn's (Australian) Safari and Tholstrup took on the Solar Challenge.

Following the experience of the relatively rough road running from Perth to Sydney, it was decided to conduct the Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide, as the Stuart Highway from Port Augusta to the Northern Territory Border has recently been sealed (in fact, at the time of planning the event the stretch between Marla and the border was under construction), and the road in the Northern Territory was in pretty good shape, in the main.

Eventually, the Solar Challenge was conducted along the lines of a rally as originally planned (set out below) and became a 'race', with the first vehicle reaching Adelaide days ahead of the main pack.