It’s not a drone, it’s a flying car and according to its makers — it’s the future of motorsport.
What’s more, the concept is the brainwave of an Aussie entrepreneur, Matt Pearson.
Airspeeder is set to makes its global public debut at this week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK.
Over Festival weekend members of the public will be treated to jaw-dropping public demonstrations of the Mk. II Speeder racecraft, offering a flavour of what they can expect when the first Airspeeder World Championship – featuring five teams and 10 pilots – takes off in 2020.
International media and VIP guests will be treated to a spectacular flying display and race around an aerial track at the Goodwood Aerodrome, and adjacent to the Goodwood hillclimb route, during the festival weekend.
A static display of the Airspeeder Mk. IV, the world’s first piloted octocopter, will take centre stage amid the immersive technology of the Festival of Speed Future Lab.
Developed by Alauda Racing, an Australian start-up with the long-term ambition to use its technology to develop a world-beating flying sports car for sale to the public, the Mk. IV octocopters will hit speeds of 200km/h and offer a power-to-weight ratio superior to an F-18 fighter jet.
With global giant DHL already on board as Airspeeder’s Logistics Partner,.
Each sky-high Grand Prix will take place at a different landmark motorsport venue around the world, with Mk IV Airspeeder pilots competing in timed trials and heart-pounding white-knuckle head-to-head races 20 metres above ground.
Manned demonstrations of the new Mk. IV race speeder, which will compete in the first world championship, will begin in the Mojave Desert this November.
Driving force behind the Airspeeder race series, Matt Pearson, said flying cars are no longer a fantasy.
“They are a reality and Goodwood Festival of Speed is the perfect place to introduce Airspeeder to the world,” he said.
“We’ve taken design cues from the golden era of racing, and we’re sure the tens of thousands of enthusiasts present will instantly appreciate this evolution of motorsport.
“Totally absorbing, and all electric, it will appeal to a whole new generation of race fans.”
But Pearson’s plans are grander still, because he wants to build the world’s first flying, privately owned sports car.
The race series is just the test bed for this development.
We can hardly wait.
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