Iowa State’s Team PrISUm received the checkered flag for an unprecedented fifth place finish in Sunrayce ’99 Tuesday. Team members credited the record finish to a high quality car and sound strategy.

Inclement weather hampered the 1,500 mile, nine-day solar car race and kept finish times high.

“There was an odd weather system out here,” said Allen Ihlefeld, senior in industrial engineering and director of Team PrISUm.

On day eight, for the first time in Sunrayce history, no teams finished the entire day’s miles.

It was a record-long 200 mile stretch from Tallahassee to Ocala, Fla.

“There were absolutely no teams that made it across the finish line,” Ihlefeld said. ISU finished the day in first place.

When there is cloudy or rainy weather, the solar-powered cars still run. However, “You are not able to bring your battery pack back up to full power,” he said.

With less battery power, the team’s car, Phoenix, cannot reach its full potential, Ihlefeld said.

“We designed our car to be more effective at higher speeds,” he said.

Despite these hurdles, Team PrISUm was able to capture the highest place in ISU history.

Asten Rathbun, senior in computer engineering and strategy team member, said strategy was the determining factor in the race this year.

In March, Team PrISUm sponsors, Herb and Esther Harmison, drove the race route to video tape the terrain and record the locations of stop signs, speed zones and other information.

Rathbun said the team was able to put the video’s information to good use for the race.

“We built a simulator that helped us determine how to run the car,” he said.

Ihlefeld said the race confirmed the teams belief in knowledge of the car.

“We confirmed that having a good car is key, but knowing how to run it is the real magic,” he said. “We went into Sunrayce ’97 with 60 [test] miles on the car, and this one we came in with almost 1,500 [test] miles. You could tell the difference.”

The team was also pleased with the car itself.

“We had no mechanical or electrical breakdowns the entire race,” Rathbun said.

Overall, Team PrISUm was satisfied with its accomplishment. “We’ve brought Iowa State into contention,” Ihlefeld said.

“The next team just needs to take it that one step further,” he said.

The team is planning a welcome- back party July 6.

“We can’t wait to get back to Ames to show the car off again,” Rathbun said.

Sunrayce is a biennial cross-country solar car race sponsored by General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy. This year’s race started on June 20, in Washington, D.C. and ended June 29, in Orlando, Fla.

Further race results can be found at www.sunrayce.com/sunrayce/ mobile.