The WorldFirst Formula 3 racing car drives down the straight of a test track at Bruntingthorpe near Lutterworth, in Leicestershire. The steering wheel is made from a polymer derived from carrots and other root vegetables while the seat is flax fibre shell, soy bean oil foam and recycled polyester fabric.

Cars powered by chocolate, steered by carrots with drivers sitting on soybean oil foam seats – it’s motor racing’s cheap, cheerful and environmentally-friendly series of the future.
While Formula One stables have not hesitated to spend millions of dollars on the latest thing in ultra-high technology to gift the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button a few milliseconds per circuit, researchers in Britain envisage an organic future for motor racing.
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The original concept of a NASCAR race car was that is was supposed to be composed of stock parts—parts you would buy in an auto parts store. In some respects that is true but not totally. The race car is a high performance racing machine designed to withstand high G-forces when banking on turns. Let’s look at what makes up this vehicle.

The first component most are interested in is the engine of a NASCAR racing vehicle. This engine actually is very close to that which you have in your car (provided you have a big engine) but it is customized so that it can withstand high temperature and torque. All parts in the engine of a are machined to within very tight specifications so that there is a minimum of friction. The carburetor is designed to let in the volume of air and fuel mixture required to sustain high speeds for lengthy spans of time. There are no fuel injectors in the race cars engine.
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Radial engines were traditionally used for powering aircraft, but two extraordinary Grand Prix cars embraced them, although neither raced.

Monaco-Trossi, 1935
The Monaco-Trossi was a truly maverick design, influenced heavily by aircraft technology. At its heart lay a 16-cylinder two-stroke twin supercharged radial engine. Mounted as far forward as possible it gave the car a menacing and unforgettable look, quite unlike anything ever seen. Ultimately, the positioning of the engine would play a major part in the car’s downfall.
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There was a time when dragstrips and road courses across America were bustling with the sounds of screeching bias-ply burnouts and solid-lifter crackling, and lead-infused fuels burned under high compression. The muscle car era was in full swing, and the manufacturers waged war in battles of horsepower and cubic inches.

At some point though, it seems like those with the vintage cars threw in the towel and stopped showing up, leaving the late-model crew to have all of the fun. Now we’re not saying that you should be hanging out at the track all the time, but you should be able to enjoy all of that high-horsepower hardware that you’ve installed under the hood, and taking your car to your local racetrack offers that opportunity in a very safe environment.
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The Castrol Honda race transporters are still stuck after three days on the M25, and would any spectator who has arrived on a Honda SP-2 please contact the organisers, as the team would like to borrow a bike for the afternoon. The Daily Telegraph sponsorship logos will be applied free.

Would Colin Edwards, currently second in the championship and the only man to have put consistent pressure on series leader Troy Bayliss, stand any chance of being even remotely competitive on the road version of his race bike? Even with slick racing tyres and the lights removed?
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