Junior Karter To Drive Solar Car

While many of his karting mates are heading to Tasmania for the Nationals, well known Victorian Junior Clancy Purdie will be heading to Sydney to tackle the rat race in a Solar and Pedal Assisted Vehicle.

With his background in karting, Clancy has been chosen to ride from the steps of the Sydney Opera House through the busy city streets to the M5 Freeway. From there, the other team riders will share the riding duties on the return trip to Ballarat.

This is no ordinary vehicle, it has been ten years in design and several prototypes have been constructed. It has three wheels, is sleek, and has already reached speeds of 115 km/h. It weighs 35 kilograms and stands 800mm off the ground and the aerodynamic design actually allows the vehicle to hug the road at high speeds. “The riders train several times each week to reach peak fitness and the benefit to my karting is that the physical stamina suits both sports, the engineering and design concepts, plus the speeds in both are similar too” said Clancy.

It is all part of a school project where the vehicle will attempt to travel from Sydney back to Canberra, Melbourne and then Ballarat in less than 24 hours from Monday March 17th. The team will not only meet Mel and Kochie from the Sunrise program, but federal politician Peter Garrett too.

The school project aims to raise awareness of simple global warming solutions and also funds for donation to several charities.

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