News - 2019

TOKYO (October 30, 2019) -- Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) today announced that "Agoria Solar Team of Belgium (No.8)" won the Challenger Class^*1 and "Solar Team Eindhoven of Netherland (No.40) won the Cruiser Class^*2 in the 2019 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (BWSC), the world's foremost solar car race. Both teams were supplied Bridgestone "ECOPIA with ologic" tires.

Solar car and members of "Agoria Solar Team," winner of the Challenger Class

Solar car and members of "Solar Team Eindhoven," winner of the Cruiser Class

"ECOPIA with ologic" tires are fuel-efficient tires designed specifically for solar cars using fuel-efficient tire technology from Bridgestone, ologic. "ECOPIA with ologic" tires ensure the necessary durability while featuring reduced rolling resistance. Tires using ologic technology are narrower than standard tires with a wider diameter, creating a shape that yields high levels of fuel efficiency and safety. The wider diameter limits changes in the shape of the contact patch to yield lower rolling resistance, which improves fuel efficiency, and the narrower shape reduces air resistance while driving.

Held in Australia once every two years, BWSC racers compete on a course spanning 3,000 km from Darwin on the northern edge of Australia to Adelaide on the southern edge.

"The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge has proven its name this year as it was a very fast race with incredible new challenges every day. Due to the greatly reduced rolling resistance and incredible durability of our Bridgestone tires, we managed to perform a catch-up maneuver from P3 to P1 in the last two days. It was a real team effort to get from Darwin to Adelaide in 34 hours in a car designed and built in 15 months by a group of 19 students that only drives on solar energy!" said Willem-Jan Claes, team manager, "Agoria Solar Team."

"We are really happy we could use tires from Bridgestone, since they were crucial during the longest stage of the Challenge. During this stage, we had to cover an enormous distance with strong headwinds in excess of 30 km/h. Without the low rolling resistance of the Bridgestone tires, our chances of not finishing this stage, would have been much higher," said Evan Quadvlieg, technical acquisition manager, "Solar Team Eindhoven."

"Congratulations to 'Agoria Solar Team' and 'Solar Team Eindhoven' for their victories in the Challenger Class and the Cruiser Class. As the title sponsor, we are pleased we were able to support all BWSC teams in realizing their dreams. In our future involvement with the BWSC, I look forward to continuing our contributions to the development of solar cars, support of aspiring young engineers, and preservation of the environment through the use of sunlight as a new source of energy ," said Kazutoshi Oyama, Director of Brand Strategy and Communications, Bridgestone Corporation.

Bridgestone announced its continued support of the BWSC through 2030 as title sponsor. This partnership embodies the three Priority Areas of the Bridgestone global corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment Our Way to Serve, Mobility, People and Environment, while employing innovation to improve the way people move, live, work and play. In addition to supporting the competition as a title sponsor, Bridgestone will continue to supply "ECOPIA with ologic" tires to participating teams, contributing to the mobility of society and reducing environment impacts while supporting young engineers.

1. The Challenger Class is a race to reach the goal the quickest in vehicles designed for speed; vehicles require four wheels and one driver.
2. The Cruiser Class is a race testing vehicles' energy efficiency and practicality; vehicles must have four wheels and be able to be ridden by one driver and more than one passenger.