A racing car that runs on chocolate?
That’s two of my favourite things; cars and chocolate!

A British research team have developed a fully sustainable racing car that runs on chocolate.
The car actually runs on a biofuel that is made from mainly chocolate, but there’s a lot more that makes this car an extraordinary contribution to sustainability.
The body of the car is made using recycled carbon fibre, flax, and recycled resin, the steering wheel is made from carrot pulp. The lubrication for the moving parts in the car are made from plant oils.
Despite being the most environmentally friendly car on the Formula 3 circuit, it’s not slow.
This car has a top speed of 135mph, and with a little help from the turbo charger it does 0-60 in just 2.5 seconds.

Dr Kerry Kirwan from the University of Warwick, England, is the lead researcher of the project and despite the idea of ‘green’ motor sport often being greeted with cynicism, he is confident that it’s definitely a feasable option.
Dr Kirwan said that the idea behind this project was to help people understand that “being sustainable and green can be incredibly sexy, fun and fast” and that they hope to “show ways for the future, for people to race and be green.”
Dr Kerry Kirwan is confident that the car which cost £500,000 to build, will not embarrass itself.
He said, “We believe it is the world’s greenest car but it shows that being green does not have to be boring.”

Ross Brawn, the F1 team boss, and racing drivers Lewis Hamilton and Adam Carroll have given their approval to the project and the car.
The car, called the ‘WorldFirst Formula 3 Racing Car’, but is also known as the ‘flying carrot, took part in its first racing competition in the Formula 3 Championship final on the 17th October at Brands Hatch.

While I’ve no doubt there will be many ‘green’ people who think this is a great idea, I’m not so sure.
Running a car on chocolate? I prefer to eat my chocolate.

Posted on ZEITGEIST

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

I’m not particularly interested in gardens or gardening, but I do like this Formula 1 car shaped hedges.

Not surprisingly this hedge isn’t in a private garden, it’s at the Williams F1 headquarters, where the gardeners spend several hours every month trimming their topiary to keep the fantastic shape of the Formula 1 car and mechanics.
The Formula 1 car is 11ft long and consists of six plants, and the 6ft mechanics are each made from two plants. They all sit on top of gravel.
The Williams F1 headquarters is in Grove, near Didcot, Oxfordshire, England, and visitors are usually pretty impressed by the topiary which shows a couple of mechanics changing the cars wheels during a pit stop.
Apparently an Italian nursery originally made the model for Ferrari, but Williams purchased it and then changed the shape of the car to reflect their car design.
It wasn’t a quick chnage as the plants took two and a half years to weave round the metal frames which are now completely covered.
Tim Lightfoot, facilities manager at Williams, said visitors are impressed by the detail of the work.
He said, “Our gardeners trim the plants into shape by hand and take a great deal of care doing it.
“It is hard work but the result is really impressive.
“The topiary has pride of place outside our conference centre and is popular with the many people who visit us each year.
“Many guests are shocked by the size of it.
“We often have people trying to sit in it but it’s not a very comfortable drive. It doesn’t go very fast either.”

Williams-Toyota are currently sixth in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship on 30.5 points.
Driver Nico Rosberg has secured all their points, and lies in sixth place in the drivers’ championship. Kazuki Nakajima is yet to score this season.

I love everything about cars, and if I ever had more money than sense, I think I’d get my gardener to make me something similar to this. Maybe I’d have a Bugatti Veyron shaped hedge?
Who am I kidding - I’d have chocolate shaped hedges!

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

A lucky gambler has won £1 million, or approximately $1.97 million, from a 50 pence ($1) bet, according to British bookmaker William Hill.
The unidentified man chose eight horse races; an accumulator bet, on Friday, and won, beating odds of two-million-to-one.
The man reportedly walked into a William Hill branch in Thirsk in the north of England and placed wagers on eight horses in eight different races. His first win was with a horse appropriately called “Isn’t That Lucky” in the 2:55 p.m. race at Sandown, southwest of London. When his final bet on a horse called, “A Dream Come True” crossed the finishing line at Wolverhampton racecourse later that evening, the man had won £1 million.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said the new millionaire was completely oblivious to his good fortune when he went to a different branch of William Hill on Saturday to place more 50 pence bets. Graham Sharpe said the man had not won any of Saturday’s wagers, losing £2.50.
Graham said, “If he does it another 400,000 times we’ll have it all back.”

Many years ago when my hubby and I worked together in London we used to do silly accumulator bets, mainly as an excuse to get out of work for a while! Richard used to pick outsiders with crazy odds, we did win occasionally but never became millionaires.
It’s nice to hear of someone getting something back from the bookies for a change, well done that man!