What is being called ‘the future of motorsport’ played out in the deserts of South Australia with the first-ever timed electric flying car drag-race taking place.
The drag race was part of a key pre-season testing session for EXA, Airspeeder’s first electric flying car racing season, created by Alauda Aeronautics. It provided a first glimpse of flying car racing as a sporting entity, ahead of international competition in 2022.
Race events will see a grid of full-scale electric flying cars known as Speeders race blade-to-blade in landscapes where motorsport has never been before. Teams from a broad range of industries will be provided with the Speeders but given technical and tactical freedom to approach gaining competitive edge in the series as they see fit. This will ensure close motorsport based on pilot skill and race management.
Fans from around the world will watch via global broadcasts with coverage enhanced by technology that communicates the virtual tracks and race telemetry data projected directly to pilots through augmented reality.
Because flying car racing does not require the same physical infrastructure as legacy motorsport, this presents a sport built from the ground-up with sensitivity to the global requirement to race with minimal ecological impact.
This first drag-race represented the culmination of intense internal competition between two-sides of the Alauda Aeronautics technical team. The result was a tense and visually enthralling encounter with the internal teams forced to adapt strategy in line with wind and dust conditions in the selected desert location. As races play out in varying conditions including over ice, over sea, deserts and even forest locations, mastery of external factors add a compelling tactical layer to the sport.
With the successful completion of this historic first drag-race, Alauda is poised to announce the world’s first electric flying car Grand Prix calendar under the banner of the EXA Series. These remotely piloted races will serve as a vital feeder series for the forthcoming crewed Airspeeder Grand Prixs. In addition to developing the technology that underpins the sport, it will be a breeding ground for the elite pilots that will pioneer the dawn of the electric flying car racing era.
