The fastest car on earth, the ‘Bloodhound Land Speed Record’ car, visited the British Motor Museum on Wednesday, 8 November, as part of a national roadshow to find a new driver. The roadshow, which is taking place at various locations from 8 – 14 November, is offering this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attract passionate and skilled individuals who are ready to push the boundaries of speed and aspire to become part of history.

The Bloodhound LSR Project is an iconic British programme which aims not only to break the FIA Outright World Land Speed Record, reaching speeds beyond 800mph, but also to showcase world-class science and engineering. It aims to be the first Net Zero Land Speed Record car of the modern era. The project has proved itself to be one of the most inspiring STEM projects of the last decade. A separate education charity promotes STEM in schools and has reached up to 2 million school-age children.

The roadshow started at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, allowing the press and members of the public to see Bloodhound LSR and meet the team. The roadshow will be  travelling south to London and then onto Surrey and Hampshire.

Stuart Edmondson, Bloodhound CEO, said, “As we enter a new chapter of the Bloodhound LSR Project, I am excited about the opportunity and challenges that lie ahead and confident that this will enable us to return to South Africa and set a new record. With a new driver, along with my aim of not using fossil fuels to set a new FIA Outright World Land Speed Record, the project promises to be exciting, engaging, and relevant at so many levels”.

Stephen Laing, Head of Collections & Engagement at the British Motor Museum, said: “We are delighted that the Bloodhound LSR Project chose the British Motor Museum as the first venue for its roadshow. The collection already holds a range of land speed record cars from MG, dating from 1938 to 1998, a connection with the pursuit of speed and advancing technology. As a British-designed and built car, it’s even more fitting for the Museum to host this groundbreaking car that aims to surpass 800mph”.

For more information about the Bloodhound LSR, please visit https://www.bloodhoundlsr.com/

To find out more about the British Motor Museum, please visit www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk

MAVERICK FINISHES ELEVENTH, ALEIX CRASHES

The Malaysian Sunday in Sepang did not bring the improvements hoped for in the Aprilia camp, where they had to settle for Maverick’s eleventh-place finish. His race was conditioned primarily by being in the most crowded part of the pack where, between overtaking and tyre management, it is difficult to exploit a pace which, on paper, could have earned better results.

Aleix, on the other hand, fell victim to a crash on turn 9 as he was attempting to close the gap from his twelfth-place position. His generosity encountered a less than perfect feeling with the front end, a recurring sensation throughout the weekend, which the technicians will be working on both in view of Qatar and in terms of developing the 2024 RS-GP.

ALEIX
"A weekend to forget, without a doubt. In the warm-up session, we tried a very different setup on the bike and, to be honest, I was fast but I realised straight away that I was closer to the limit with the front end. The most difficult thing to accept is not so much the crash – these things can happen – but rather the gap we had behind the leaders. When I crashed on turn nine I was twelfth, without the pace to even think about a serious comeback. We need to think about this and find a solution to get back to being competitive."

MAVERICK
"It wasn’t a fantastic race, but it was what we could do today. By now we have figured out that, if you’re in the middle of the group, you might even have a good pace, but you aren’t able to fully express it. You have to overtake and not let anyone overtake you and manage tyre temperature – all factors that ultimately limit your overall performance. I’m looking at the positive: a race like this allowed us to collect lots of information. Maybe we won’t be able to use it straight away in Qatar, but the Aprilia engineers will certainly have a lot of data to help them in developing the 2024 bike."

APRILIA HARD AT WORK TO MAKE A STEP FORWARD IN THE RACE

In a Sprint Race that rewards the top nine riders with points, Maverick’s top-10 finish is meagre consolation. After starting well from the third row, the Aprilia rider had to reckon with the usual chaos on the first turns where some contact and some trajectory changes cost him ground with respect to the leaders. His race, characterised by consistency, is a good starting point for tomorrow where, with twice as many laps to ride, he could easily have the chance to exploit his pace. 

As for Aleix, it’s safe to say that his performance today in Sepang suffered from the events of yesterday. Although extremely fast in Q1, the time he did was not enough to send him through to Q2, which he missed by just over a tenth of a second. His fifth-row start had him then maintaining a good pace, but still not enough to allow him to move up any farther than twelfth.

ALEIX
"The good thing is that I got back the "normal" sensations on the RS-GP with the change in settings. My time in Q1 (1'58.069) was the fastest yet for Aprilia in Sepang, but it wasn’t enough to go through to Q2. Starting a bit farther forward would certainly have helped, especially in the Sprint Race, but the fact is that I expected to be faster. We’ll have better chances tomorrow in the long race."

MAVERICK
"I can’t say that I’m disappointed, because I think the result today was the best possible. I had managed to start well, but then in the chaos on the opening corners I lost a few positions and I didn’t have the speed I needed in order to attack. We made a few steps forward on various fronts and we still have the warm-up session to try and find a few tenths. We’ll need to continue working to improve for future races as well."

Ace Cafe Poppy Day parade and service
Sunday 12th of November

Ace Cafe London

MAVERICK IMPROVES IN THE FINALE TO TAKE FIFTH

ALEIX CRASHES OUT AND WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH Q1

It was not a relaxing day in the Aprilia garage, with two particularly lively sessions contributing. On the first day at the Malaysian Sepang circuit, Maverick took advantage of almost every outing to find the right feeling. He finally found it in the afternoon session, where he did the fifth-best time, which sends him straight through to Q2.

Practice sessions were complicated for Aleix, on the other hand, victim of a crash this morning and three more in the afternoon, the last of which left him with some scratches. His lack of feeling with the front has already been analysed and understood by number 41’s crew, which gives Espargaró moderate confidence for tomorrow.

ALEIX
"I’ve definitely had better days, but I can’t say that I’m particularly worried. We are well aware of the problem, so tomorrow we’ll go back to a standard solution and I’m sure I’ll be able to be fast. It will be a demanding Saturday since I have to go through Q1, plus the last crash left me a bit scratched up and that won’t make life easy. We are riders and we know this can happen. The important thing is to know where to make changes."

MAVERICK
"A strange Friday on this track. We know that in the first session grip is usually poor and then it gradually improves, but today I did not have a better feeling in the afternoon. Anyway, in the last time attack with a new tyre, I felt better, so that’s a starting point for tomorrow. We made some comparisons between various systems to improve thermal comfort in the saddle and I must thank Aprilia for their quick response in spite of the little time available. Today the temperatures were not extreme, so it’s difficult to evaluate. We’ll analyse the data and understand more as early as the Sprint Race."