Formula One can be electrifying, but the sport has reached a period of marginal gains; designs and strategies are so refined, we're unlikely to see any major changes to cars or races in the foreseeable future. So what can you do to increase the thrill?
Australian engineering company Alauda Racing believes it has an answer: taking races above the track with low-altitude aircraft that can tear around the circuit at up to 200kmph.
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Alauda Racing has designed a manned craft that's part racing drone, part F1 car specifically for the new sport. The Airspeeder is fully electric, with a 500kW battery, a carbon-fiber chassis, and the ability to take off and land vertically.
Ready for takeoff
This isn't just a concept, either; the Airspeeder will be debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, and manned flights are beginning this year.
The Airspeeder World Championships are scheduled to launch in 2020, with five teams of two pilots competing for the grand prize.
“Transport is changing, and motoring is becoming more than two-dimensional," says Matt Pearson, founder of Alauda Racing. "Just like traditional motoring, flying cars need a forum to push the technology further. What better way to achieve this than by creating a global flying car series, the sport of this century, the future of motorsport.”
