Thaindian News

London, Aug 16 (ANI): A Scottish team has expressed its determination to beat the world one-litre land speed record, when it competes in the Salt Flats of Utah at the Bonneville Speed Week next week.

The current record, which was set 12 years ago, stands at 313mph (505kph).

The vehicle of the team named ‘Flower of Scotland’ will be driven by 23-year-old Derek Palmer and 35-year-old Rick Pearson.

The team, which is managed by Palmer’s father, also called Derek, will participate in the one-litre supercharged category in the streamliner car.They have earlier won various British and European championships, including the last FIA European Michelin Supertouring Championship in 2001.The car, which is described as an ‘extremely tight fit’, involves the driver having to lie flat and slide up the seat to jam his head into a roll cage. Controls consist only of a steering wheel with a CO2 power shift button, two parachute levers, three fire extinguisher levers, accelerator, clutch and brake,” The BBC reports.

Speaking about the team, Derek Palmer Senior said ‘Flower of Scotland’ was packed with advanced technology.

“It is a wheel driven car which drives as a conventional car through the axles, not with a jet engine, and it is 1,000cc. The technology is all in getting the thing to push as little air to the side as possible and for there to be little rolling resistance,” The BBC quoted Derek Palmer Senior as saying.

“It is absolutely tiny - the car is only 22in wide and its less than 3ft high so it is the height of someone lying on their back. It is as small as it possibly can be to make as little a hole in the air as possible,” he added. (ANI)