European Award for İTÜ Solar Car Team

İTÜ Solar Car Team (İTÜ GAE), one of the esteemed student project teams of our university, honored Turkey with the team spirit and success during Europe’s most prestigious solar car races; European Solar Challenge. Our team completed the fastest lap of the European Solar Car Race, with 3rd place, a dynamic track lap with 5th place, and a 24-hour lap with 7th place.

“The most combatant team cup goes to İTÜ GAE”

Participating in the European Solar Challenge 2020, where the teams of the prestigious technical universities of Europe compete under difficult pandemic conditions, İTÜ GAE is the only team that can participate in the race from outside the borders of the European Union. In addition to this, our team has added a new one to its 22 awards won in the past 16 years; as the owner of the "Most Combatant Team" cup as a result of the exemplary teamwork it exhibited in the race.

“We are proud of carrying our flag on the runway”

İTÜ Solar Car Team Consultant Asst. Prof. Dr. Alper Tolga Çalık thanked everyone who supported them for the competition. Emphasized that İTÜ GAE was the only team representing Turkey in the competition this year Calik was quoted:

“Our students made a special request to the Belgian Consulate in Ankara for our projects and the competition. This request received a positive response one week before the start of the race, and the team completed their technical, logistic, operational, and financial preparations with extraordinary effort in one week and became ready for the race. Designed by forty engineer candidates, İTÜ GAEs proudly raced by a twenty-person race in the European Solar Car Race and made us all proud.

“We are very happy to successfully represent our country”

Team Captain Çetin Dalkılıç said that their team was like a school and they solved all kinds of problems together.

Emphasizing that they disassembled and replaced the engine rim during the race as a result of the glass entering into the tire where the engine of the vehicle burst in the 24-hour stage in the competition, Dalkılıç said, “Although the tire change, which can normally take five minutes, was prolonged due to the change of the engine wheel, we were able to get on the road quickly thanks to my teammates who successfully managed this crisis. We have gained significant experience in problem-solving. We are very happy to successfully represent our country in the competition.”