We found out late Friday night that we will be able to race as an official participant in the 2012 American Solar Challenge using a modified GaAs array. A rule change put us in doubt about whether or not we would be in the demonstration class, but the officials gave us a big break by allowing us to scale down the array size. We will continue working will them to decide exactly how much of the array will need to be unwired, but a big hurdle has been clear for the UK Solar Car Team. A big thanks to Jimmy Frilling for heading up this effort to get us in the race.

From the team manager, Mark Miller:

Congratulations team on all the hard work and effort it took to compete in FSGP 2011.

Thank you to all our sponsors that allowed us to compete this year. We are privileged and proud to have your support.

Thank you also to all the Adopt-A-Cell sponsors this year, your support allowed us to buy tools, and gear for the trip.

Thank you to all the University staff, and our faculty advisers, who helped us out in countless ways throughout the year. You have given the members of this team access to life-changing experiences.

And finally, thank you to all the fans who followed us on twitter and team alumni who came out to the race, your continued support is much appreciated.

The team is on a mild hiatus right now, following the immense amount of energy spent preparing for FSGP. Look for some updates coming soon about our plans for next year.

The Discovery Channel Canada also filmed the race (and interviewed us!) the video can be found here: http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/#clip472968

The team just got back to the hotel after completing a second day of racing. We have experienced some battery-related electrical issues over the first two days of the race, as our well-used pack has begun to show its age. We ended up bypassing two of the bad battery modules and replacing another one, incurring a 17-minute penalty. However, our battery pack now appears to be well-balanced and ready to race for tomorrow. Otherwise, our car has been fantastic. We are certainly the fastest car on the track when we can keep the battery pack running. The weather forecast for tomorrow does not look favorable, but we should be able to keep a slow and steady pace throughout the day. Saturday is Emerging Tech Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so feel free to come on out if you're in the area and see us race! Check out http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/indy500/eventinfo/41451/ for more information about the event. As always, we will be updating the twitter page, so make sure you tune in to stay posted!

After arriving at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday around 6pm, the team has been hard at work last night and this morning getting the car prepared for scrutineering and testing. While the electrical systems are looking great so far, we still have a few things to fix/add/debug before the scrutineers OK us for dynamic testing and racing. Mechanically, we are still getting the wheel fairings worked out, along with a ventilation duct for our battery pack. Overall, things are looking good, with the exception of the cloudy sky. Don't forget to check out our twitter page (http://twitter.com/uksolarcar) for more frequent updates and pictures! Go Big Blue!