Lord Drayson Awarded the Prestigious Simms Medal by the Royal Automobile Club

OXFORD, England, November 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

• Lord Drayson is awarded the Simms Medal for setting four Electric Land Speed Records with revolutionary all-electric B12 69/EV
• Simms Medal ceremony held at Pall Mall Clubhouse yesterday afternoon recognising innovation and personal endeavour contributing to the automotive industry

Lord Drayson has been awarded the prestigious Simms Medal by the Royal Automobile Club's Technical Committee in recognition of his contribution to motoring innovation after his audacious and successful World Electric Land Speed Record runs.  

This year's Simms Medal recognises Lord Drayson for championing new automotive technologies, and daring - very successfully - to go out and demonstrate their potential in the most extreme manner. The Technical Committee felt that Lord Drayson "exemplified the spirit of adventure" while setting four Electric Land Speed Records for sub-999kg vehicles.

Lord Drayson drove the Qualcomm Halo-sponsored B12 69/EV developed by his company Drayson Racing Technologies to set a new flying mile FIA World Electric Land Speed record for the category at 205.139 mph. He also set a British Land Speed Record for cars of any propulsion type driven by their wheels and a new standing start quarter mile world record of 9.742 seconds in October 2013.

Commenting on his Simms Medal award, Lord Drayson said: "I'm very proud to have been awarded the Simms Medal by the Royal Automobile Club and I'm delighted we've been able to demonstrate the potential of EV performance in the most extreme environment. None of this would have been possible without our partners Qualcomm, Multimatic, Cosworth and Michelin, innovative companies who had the vision to try this with us."

Ben Cussons, Chairman Motoring Committee of the Royal Automobile Club, said: "We are pleased to recognise outstanding achievements by the British automotive industry. Part of the raison d'être of the Royal Automobile Club has always been the promotion of all things motoring, never more so than in tough economic times. Drawing attention to automotive innovation is an important part of our contribution to this vibrant part of the manufacturing industry.

He added, "The Royal Automobile Club has celebrated many Land Speed Records achieved by historic British drivers over the decades, from Segrave to Cobb; Campbell, Noble and Green, with Drayson now joining this illustrious list. We have honoured Land Speed Records set by petrol, diesel, steam and gas turbine powered vehicles, and we are now delighted to add our first electric Land Speed Record to this list."

Drayson Racing Technologies LLP is a research & development business based in the heart of the UK's world-leading motorsport industry at Kidlington, near Oxford, UK. Lord Drayson, a science entrepreneur and the UK Minister for Science and Innovation in the previous government, formed Drayson Racing Technologies to act as a racing laboratory to pioneer the development of sustainable technologies in the challenging environment of motor sport. Since then, Drayson Racing has achieved a number of notable firsts racing second-generation biofuels and latterly focusing on the emerging field of e-racing. 

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