The Agoria Solar Team unveiled its entry for the 2019 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge at an event in Beringen, Belgium, on 3 July 2019. The car, named BluePoint, was designed and manufactured by students from the University of Leuven, Belgium, and will take part in the gruelling challenge in Australia from the 13 to 20 October 2019.

The unveiling of the car, which was painted at the Cromax Training Centre (CTC) in Mechelen, Belgium, revealed a fresh new livery: solid white with two shades of blue that were specially developed by Cromax to match the corporate colours of the main sponsor, Agoria. The formulas for these special colours will be available in ChromaWeb.

The 2019 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge will mark the eighth consecutive year the University of Leuven has had a team take part in the event, and Cromax, its Silver Partner since 2017, has worked with the students since 2015. Solar challenges are about being as fast and as efficient as possible, which is exactly how Cromax likes to work, so the partnership is a perfect match.

“It is an absolute pleasure to be a Silver Partner again,” says Kevin Torfs, Cromax Brand Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). “The Team is incredibly ambitious, passionate and driven, and those are values we share with them. Not only does the car look stunning, but also our Ultra Performance Energy System used helped the Team meet their sustainability and energy-saving goals.”

Since the last World Solar Challenge, the Team has worked tirelessly on creating BluePoint’s carbon fibre chassis and making improvements from previous entries.  And when the chassis arrived at the CTC to be painted in June the students wanted to ensure that the products and processes used aligned perfectly with their sustainability goals. Our Ultra Performance Energy System – which makes use of maximum energy- and material-saving products - was the obvious choice.

PS1081 Ultra Performance Energy Surfacer in white (VS1) was applied first. It is part of the ValueShade® concept, which delivers the optimal undercoat for every topcoat colour, delivering faster coverage and reduced basecoat consumption. The activated Cromax Pro Basecoat colours were then applied. Then partners’ logo decals were applied before the CC6700 Ultra Performance Energy Clear. This was applied in three passes with intermediate sanding, which ensured the decals would be completely smooth, helping to safeguard BluePoint’s aerodynamics. The Cromax logo will appear on BluePoint as well as on the Team’s clothing, support convoy and publicity material.

Cédric Robert, Business Relations for the Agoria Solar Team, says, “We are very happy with the final result of the car. The Cromax team in Mechelen has worked incredibly hard to make sure BluePoint looks amazing and has the durable finish to deal with the extreme conditions we will face in Australia.”

Torfs concludes, “Thanks to our extensive experience in motorsports coupled with our dedication to innovation, we’ve provided the team with valuable guidance on the coating at every step of the process. Everyone at Cromax will be following BluePoint’s progress and we will be cheering them on in October as they take on the 2019 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.”

About Cromax

Cromax, one of the global refinish coating brands from Axalta, is designed to increase productivity from the front of the bodyshop to the back with coatings systems engineered for fast and accurate application. Our localised business solutions, advanced colour measurement technology, marketing support and pragmatic innovations form the basis of a highly-productive refinish process. Cromax helps bodyshops drive their business forward.