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Michelin brings new world electric land speed record breaker

Michelin will appear at the Regent Street Motor Show this weekend with the new sub 999kg World Electric Land Speed Record breaking racing car - the Drayson B12/69 Hyper EV - (subject to FIA ratification) making its global motor show debut on the tyre maker's stand.

Fresh from breaking no fewer than four Land Speed Records (subject to FIA and MSA ratification), the Drayson B12/69 Hyper EV racing car is the brainchild of former British science minister, Lord Paul Drayson. Its FIA-sanctioned record attempts took place at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire earlier this month (October), with the race car claiming the World Electric Land Speed Record for sub-999kg vehicles (subject to FIA ratification) by covering a ‘flying mile' at an average 205.139mph, using Le Mans-derived LMP1 race tyres from Michelin.

The ‘flying mile' average also saw the Drayson race car beat its own previous world record as well as the EV acceleration record by covering a quarter mile from a standing start in just 9.742 seconds (subject to FIA ratification). In addition, it set an all-new British "flying mile" Land Speed Record for any wheel driven vehicle (subject to MSA ratification).

Lord Drayson said: "For the land speed record, we absolutely had to have tyres with the right sort of grip and which provided outstanding traction off the line. Michelin offers tremendous R&D support which, for us, makes ours an important long-term partnership."

Drayson Racing joins an illustrious group of manufacturers to set records on Michelin tyres, including Bugatti (Veyron - world's fastest production car), Koenigsegg (Agera R - world's fastest 0-300-0km/h), Gumpert (Apollo S - fastest lap of the Nurburgring Nordschleife) and many more. The free-to-view Regent Street Motor Show in London marks the first time the new World Electric Land Speed record breaker will be seen at a motor show anywhere in the world, exclusively on the Michelin stand (Stand 5).

Michelin will also show the advanced 18" race tyre developed especially for the new FIA Formula E Championship starting in 2015, and which comes to London in June. Drayson Racing is among the first crop of teams to sign up to Formula E, and Michelin has been announced as official tyre supplier for the new championship.

The Regent Street Motor Show will exhibit over 300 cars spanning 125 years of motoring, from the earliest 19th Century veterans to the 21st Century cars of the future, many of which will feature Michelin rubber, including the acclaimed new Renault ZOE electric vehicle that runs on innovative fuel saving Energy E-V road tyres.

Michelin Commercial Director, Malcolm Scovell, said: "Whether it's developing tyres for Britain's world record breaking electric car, the Formula E electric race cars of tomorrow or zero emission city cars, Michelin is at the forefront of tyre technology for a cleaner, sustainable and exciting future."