Motorcycle Live, in association with Bikesure Insurance, the UK’s biggest motorcycle show, is delighted to ‘welcome back’ BSB Day, following its success in previous years.
Teaming up with the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, showgoers will be offered a fantastic line-up of activities and events during the show following an exciting season.
The dedicated BSB Day will take place on Saturday 11 December – where visitors to the show will be able to experience all things ‘BSB’ – with live Q&A sessions with Bennetts BSB racing stars, 2022 news and signing sessions throughout the day.
Tarran Mackenzie, the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike champion will be attending BSB Day, and throughout the show his championship-winning McAMS Yamaha machine will also be on display, alongside the Cadbury Boost Yamaha his Father Niall won the series aboard 25 years ago.
Other Bennetts BSB stars confirmed for 11 December include Bradley Ray, Christian Iddon, Danny Buchan, Glenn Irwin, Jack Kennedy, Kyle Ryde, Lee Jackson, Luke Mossey, Peter Hickman, Rory Skinner, Ryan Vickers, as well as 2011 champion Tommy Hill.
Finlay McAllan, Managing Director of Motorcycle Live, comments:“BSB Day has proved to be a huge success in previous years, with the final Saturday being one of the most popular days to visit. The 2021 Bennetts BSB season has been exhilarating and we can’t wait to welcome the 2021 champion Tarran Mackenzie, who has always been very supportive of the show across the years attending and being part of it.”
Stuart Higgs, Bennetts British Superbike Championship Series Director, adds: “Motorcycle Live has traditionally been the final event of the year for the motorcycle industry, so we are delighted that there will once again be a day dedicated to all things Bennetts BSB. The 25th anniversary season didn’t disappoint with an incredible rollercoaster that went down to the closest finale since 2010, which poignantly ended with Tarran Mackenzie celebrating the title, we look forward to reliving that and look ahead to an exciting 2022 season during BSB Day.”
Motorcycle Live 2021 at The NEC, Birmingham opens its doors at 09:00am Saturday 4 December. Discounted advanced tickets are now on-sale and available from motorcyclelive.co.uk
A selection of rare and classic motorcycles will be under hammer in the first motorcycle only that leading UK auction house Silverstone Auctions will hold at the NEC Classic Car Show on Friday 12th November.
Over 90 motorcycles will be up for offer at the sale, stretching from pre 1920’s all the way through to the early noughties. Adventure bikes, sidecars, café racers and scooters all feature in the list of auction lots, and most are supported by significant history. Rarities such as a 1946 Indian Chief Model 346, the rarest of the post-war Chief models, and a 1939 Brough Superior SS80, complete with Alpine “petrol in tube” sidecar, lead the vintage model selection.
Modern Classics make their mark in the shape of a 1988 Honda XRV650 RD-03 Africa Twin – a bike that was only produced for 1 year is the only Africa Twin model to be built by the famed HRC department. Additional classic offerings include a 1970 Honda CB750 KO, 1 of only 36 of the type registered new in the UK with only 1 previous owner. Similarly, a 1972 Yamaha YDS7, the precursor to the Yamaha RD, has only one owner and remains in original condition.
The Classic Car Show-based sale offers buyers the opportunity to not only view the bikes and inspect any accompanying history, prior to bidding, but also gives the thrill of a live auction. Silverstone Auctions Motorcycle Specialist Mark Bryan comments:
“The NEC Classic sale is a real event, and we have a varied catalogue featuring some fantastic motorcycles for sale. From pre-war through to modern and retro-classics we have an exciting mix. Many of the bikes on sale have low ownership and great provenance, so it promises to be an exciting sale room on the day.”
Interested parties can view the motorcycle sale catalogue online now at silverstoneauctions.com, where they can also register to bid ahead of the event.
Valkyrie is now in full production at Aston Martin’s Gaydon Headquarters
Era defining hypercar, is first true F1®car for the road
First customer car completed and awaiting delivery
The first customers will soon receive their game-changing Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercars.
The ultra-luxury British car manufacturer announced today that the highly anticipated Valkyrie coupe has entered full production and the first customer car is now complete, with deliveries planned in the coming weeks.
Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Tobias Moers commented: “It is an immensely proud moment for us to complete our first ever hypercar. The Aston Martin Valkyrie programme has tested everyone who has worked on it to the limit but the commitment to the dream has produced a truly incredible car, an F1® car for the road. The Valkyrie is born out of the steadfast dedication of a large group of highly skilled engineers and technicians who have worked tirelessly to get Valkyrie to the production stage. I’m sure our customers will be delighted with what they have achieved.”
Like all Aston Martin sports cars, Valkyrie is being built at the marque’s UK Headquarters in Gaydon. A dedicated project delivery team manages the build right through to delivery in a specially commissioned Valkyrie production area. A team of highly skilled technicians are hand-building each of the 150 cars, with each Valkyrie taking over 2000 man hours to create.
Before each Valkyrie is delivered, it is track-tested at the Aston Martin high performance facility at the home of British Motor Racing, Silverstone where much of the development of the hypercar has taken place.
Boasting a hybrid V12 powertrain developing a maximum power of 1,155PS, the Aston Martin Valkyrie incorporates concepts and technologies taken directly from Formula One® and is set to be the era defining hypercar.
‘No Reserve’ Cars Offered at The NEC Classic Motor Show by Silverstone Auctions on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th November 2021
Cars include a 2007 Audi RS4 (B7), A 1985 Trabant P601 and a 2015 Land Rover Defender SVX
Silverstone Auctions’ final sale of 2021 is taking place on the 12th – 14th November as part of The NEC Classic Motor Show.
On sale across the weekend are number of exceptional vehicles, offered at ‘No Reserve’, meaning lots will sell with no restrictions – with the highest bidder securing the car. Simply, the highest bid wins.
Finished in Mugello Blue, is a remarkable 2007 Audi RS4 (B7). The car has been owned and stored by its first owner for most of its life, accumulating only 217 miles from new.
Built in 1985 is a lovely Trabant P601, with only two previous family keepers. This East German example was imported into the UK at the time of the fall of the Berlin wall, and later UK registered in 1992. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a sought after and desirable ‘retro’ icon. A real head turner.
Finished in brilliant Arctic White is the 1987 Volkswagen Golf GTi Cabriolet, a collectable modern classic with just over 56,000 miles on the clock. This drop-top version of the original hot hatch was specifically manufactured by Karmann Automobile Company in Osnabrück, Germany.
Two more special examples set to be sold include a ‘Red 5’ Williams F1 Display Car, thought to be one of three ever built. The car was part of a private collection and remains in immaculate condition with original Brembo brakes and Alcantara-covered carbon race seat. Although for display purposes only, it is a rare opportunity to acquire what is thought to be the only surviving factory-built FW14 vehicle.
Last on the list is a 2015 Land Rover Defender SVX, famed for its part in the James Bond film, ‘Spectre’. Originally modified by Bowler Motorsport for Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations division, the vehicle was specifically designed to use in the 007 franchise. The firm transformed ten production vehicles into the SVX Concept / Spectre Defenders. This car was used for a snow scene during filming; dramatically ending with a crash into Bond’s Britten-Norman Islander plane. Thought to be damaged-beyond-repair, the Bowler team got to work to return the vehicle to perfect working order at a cost of £46,000. Lauded as the ‘real deal’ and a genuine piece of Bond movie history.
Silverstone Auctions’ Sales Manager Gary Dunne adds, ‘No reserve lots give individuals a fantastic opportunity to bid on a vehicle, knowing there is not a minimum threshold to meet. There are some unique and special cars going up for this auction; the highest bidder wins. It doesn’t get more exciting than that.’
All these cars will go on sale on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th November at the NEC Classic Motor Show. To find out more information on the vehicles featured in this article, and other lots up for sale, visit the Silverstone Auctions website at silverstoneauctions.com.
Bidding for this auction is available in person, by telephone, online, or via commission (pre-bid) for all our classic car, motorcycle and automobilia sales.
To register to bid, please log in or create an account via the Silverstone Auctions website. Alternatively, you can email bid@silverstoneauctions.com or call us on 01926 691141 with any queries.
Historic first drag race between internal Alauda teams at over 100km/h
Giant leap forward for electric flying car racing, a next-generation clean-air motorsport
Team Bravo crosses line 3 seconds ahead of Team Alpha over the quarter mile
Teams set to compete in forthcoming EXA remotely-piloted Grand Prix season
EXA races serve as feeder series for Airspeeder crewed electric flying car racing series
Race tests are a landmark moment for the development of flying cars. Racing provides a space and a place for the industry to rap4idly develop
“We are on the cusp of making motorsport and mobility history with the world’s first electric flying car races. This test race provides the world a glimpse at the next generation of motorsport and mobility. This first test drag-race is a major moment in the creation of our sport and a giant leap forward for the development of electric flying cars.” Matt Pearson, Founder & CEO, Airspeeder & Alauda Aeronautics
OVERVIEW: A landmark moment in the future of motorsport played out in the deserts of South Australia last week as a pre-season test concluded with the first ever timed electric flying car drag-race.
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. This historic moment 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.
These women and men are drawn from the very elite of motorsport, eSports and civil, military and acrobatic aviation. They will play the same role pioneer racing drivers did at the genesis of the automotive and aviation eras in accelerating a new mobility revolution. Indeed, the eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) which is predicted to be worth $1.5trillion by 2040 has never been more vibrant.
Alauda Aeronautics has created the motor racing arm of this new form of transport and with it a place and a space for the industry to rapidly develop key safety, performance and digital technologies. This will hasten the arrival of electric flying cars that promise to liberate urban environments from congestion through a clean-air form of advanced aviation mobility.
THE DAWN OF A NEW SPORT: “I gave (my drivers) three things: a sense of optimism, a creative environment and the ultimate motivator; competition. By competing with each other in-house we wound up beating our rivals.” Enzo Ferrari
The Alauda Aeronautics engineering team is drawn from some of the biggest names in motorsport, performance automotive and aviation including Brabham, Boeing, Ferrari, McLaren and Jaguar. As such, natural competitive instincts kicked-in for an internal competition that saw the garage split to create this historic first timed drag-race.
The red liveried team (team Bravo), led by Technical Project Manager, Brett Hill faced the Black liveried team (team Alpha) led by Head of Operations, Renee Fraser. The two-day testing period proved an important showcase of live race conditions that teams and pilots will face in the forthcoming EXA races.
For the first time, remote pilots were able to show the dynamic potential of the world’s first electric flying racing cars. The remote pilots were given free reign to plot their own flight-path to victory. The drag-race format was chosen as a pure demonstration of the performance and safety technologies that underpin the sport. In particular, the ‘Virtual Forcefield’ suite of LiDAR and RADAR powered safety systems that delivers close but ultimately safe racing. This will be heavily relied upon for full-grid circuit racing.
The Mk3 Speeders flew at over 100 km/h and heights of 10m above the ground. The garage was split into two teams with the red Speeder (team Bravo) crossing the line 3.2s quicker than its black liveried rival (team Alpha). The drag race took place over 400m distance, as per the traditional quarter mile drag racing protocol. As the race-craft move through their rapid development curves they will race at up to 300 km/h in full race specification.
These are key tests for the forthcoming EXA remotely piloted GP Season, the development series for the crewed Airspeeder Racing series that is set to take place in soon-to-be-unveiled locations in 2022 and beyond.
The EXA races will see teams drawn from across the world compete in the world’s first full-grid electric flying car races.
Airspeeder will soon make announcements on the first tranche of teams that have committed to these historic first electric flying car Grand Prix and the locations in which they will be staged.
THE STRUCTURE OF A SPORT Airspeeder and Alauda Aeronautics are truly global operations. The sport’s technical HQ is in Adelaide, South Australia in direct proximity to the perfect testing grounds for a new form of aerial mobility.
The company’s commercial, communications and administrative HQ is in London, England and is led by CCO, Jack Withinshaw. This provides Airspeeder direct proximity to leaders in motor sport, rights management and regulation.
Alauda Aeronautics designs, engineers and builds the racing craft that participate in all Airspeeder racing events.
Airspeeder EXA Series is Airspeeder’s first racing series. It is where remote pilots take control of the world’s first full-scale electric flying cars. It will serve as the technical and pilot proving ground for the world’s first crewed electric flying car races.
Airspeeder is the forthcoming crewed racing series. It will race across the globe in 2022.
AIRSPEEDER: ACCELERATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MOBILITY REVOLUTION: Airspeeder is built on the philosophy that nothing accelerates technical progress like sporting competition. The next generation sport plays the same role the pioneers of Formula One did nearly a century ago in driving technical development and building public acceptance for a new mobility revolution. The eVTOL sector is primed to transform urban aerial transport, global logistics and even remote medical transport with a clean-air, zero emissions aerial transport solution.
AIRSPEEDER | ABOUT THE FOUNDER: MATTHEW PEARSON Matt Pearson is the founder and visionary behind Alauda and Airspeeder. Together with a team of engineers, designers and commercial minds spanning Australia, New York and London, he is accelerating the development of electric flying vehicles through the white heat of sporting competition.
Beyond his role as a defining voice in the future of mobility, Matt is driving the rapidly expanding Industrial Internet of Things space through his work at Fleet. From their base in South Australia millions of devices are powered via Low Earth Orbit through a growing network of nano satellites.
