Drayson Racing secured a podium spot at the Goodwood Festival of Speed weekend, with a third place finish for the all-electric B12 69/EV.
It was the electric hypercar’s first high-profile run since it broke the FIA World Electric Land Speed Record for sub-1000kg cars (subject to FIA approval) three weeks ago with Lord Drayson at the wheel. Back in its high downforce circuit specification, the B12 69/EV, which was driven by Jonny Cocker for the weekend, recorded a best time of 47.34 seconds in Sunday’s final shootout, just 0.02 secs behind the second placed Peugeot 208 T16 that won at Pikes Peak a few weeks ago.
This represents a new electric record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, over 6 seconds faster than the time set when the car made its Goodwood hill debut last year. That underlines the rapid progress being made by Drayson Racing in developing its electric powertrain technology.
To aid battery charging between runs during the tight Goodwood schedule, the Drayson B12 69/EV uses QualcommHalo Wireless Charging technology. This means the car does not need to be plugged in but instead charges from a portable pad in the floor and represents the future of EV infrastructure for road cars.
Michelin is also working in partnership with Drayson Racing to develop specialist tyres that are perfectly suited to the very high torque characteristics of an electric racing car.
Commenting on the Goodwood result, Lord Drayson, CEO of Drayson Racing Technologies, said: “A podium finish here at Goodwood, where there are over 300 cars from many eras and racing classes competing up the hill, illustrates how swiftly we are developing electric vehicle technology through motorsport competition. Clearly we have some work to do before electric beats the internal combustion engine at Goodwood. There’s always next year, though.”
Source; Drayson Racing
