These Dutch students are bringing a world champion solar car to the 2026 Electrek American Solar Challenge

This July, the 2026 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) and American Solar Challenge (ASC) head north to Minnesota, and one of the 46 registered teams is making the trip for the very first time. The Delft Solar Team is flying in from the Netherlands, and they aren’t exactly showing up empty-handed.

I caught up with Rosa Van Wijngaarden, who runs PR for the team, to talk about who they are, what they’re driving, and what it’s like to prep for a race on a continent the team has never set wheels on.

A small group of students with big dreams

“I always say that we’re just like a small group of students,” Rosa told me. And she means small. The team is just 14 people this year, each of whom takes a full gap year off from their studies to work on a solar car built from scratch.

Everyone has their own discipline too. One does electrical, one does aerodynamics, Rosa does PR, and so on. I knew immediately from our video call that Delft Solar was well-engineered for being just a collegiate team.