A RACING car built partly from carrots and fuelled by chocolate and wine will be entering its first official race next month.
The 230bhp one-seater racing car – called World First but known as the Flying Carrot – has been designed by boffins at Warwick University.
And on October 17 it will be making its debut at Brands Hatch, in Kent, where it will be competing against 22 other more conventional Formula 3 vehicles.
The car meets all the standards for Formula 3 apart from its engine being biodiesel. This means it will not get championship points.
But it has already crossed the black and white chequered flag for being environmentally friendly.
Dr Kerry Kirwan, its creator, is confident the car, which cost £500,000 to build, will not
disappoint.
He said: “We believe it is the world’s greenest car but it shows that being green does not have to be boring.
“We’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t do well and we believe this is the greenest car in its class.
“It’s the first car of its kind built from waste material, recycled
material and natural materials, but it has the same performance
levels and looks just like a
Formula 3 racing car.
“We hope to reach out to
future scientists and engineers and give them something they can get excited about and relate to.”
The car looks similar to other Formula 3 vehicles, with the performance to match – it can reach a top speed of 130mph and accelerate to 60mph in
under 2.5 seconds. But its
similarities end there.
The bodywork is made from recycled rubbish and the steering wheel is made from shredded carrot fibres glued together and is derived from technology used to make fishing rods.
The fuel used to power its 230bhp recycled aluminium
engine comes from a variety of sources, including waste fat from a chocolate factory and fermented wine dregs.
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