Killarney engineer eyes Australian World Challenge after historic European Solar finish
Fresh off making Irish motorsport history in Europe, Killarney’s Rian Gill and the DCU Solar Racing team have turned their sights to Australia for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
The Mechatronic Engineering graduate served as Team Manager for the student outfit that designed and hand-built Ireland’s first solar-powered race car over a four-year development period.
The squad recently completed its debut at the 24-hour iLumen European Solar Challenge at Circuit Zolder in Belgium.
Entering as the first Irish team in the event’s history, the crew targeted passing technical inspection to secure a starting spot before qualifying 12th out of 32 international entries.
Despite an early mechanical setback that cost the team between 30 and 40 laps, a swift repair in under 90 minutes got the car back on track. The machine ran without further fault to complete the 24-hour distance, crossing the line 17th overall to claim national championship honours.
With their European debut complete, Gill and the DCU crew are pivoting preparations toward the ultimate test: a 3,000-kilometre trek across the Australian outback from Darwin to Adelaide
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