SHARJAH – Wednesday, December 08, 2010 - At a press conference staged at the Corniche Al Buheira hotel, Nicolo di San Germano, promoter of the UIM World F1 Series together with John Caudwell and Mike Beachy Head of Caudwell Marine unveiled a unique new engine/drive package that could revolutionize Formula One.

With the world of motor sports becoming increasingly under pressure to seek out greener, more energy efficient options to protect the environment, Di San Germano has, for the last two years looked at several propositions but all have been discarded on the grounds of economics. However when Caudwell Marine approached the F1 promoter with a package that ticked all the right boxes, Di San Germano proposed a joint venture that, if successful could transform F1.

Since its inception, Formula One has relied on outboard power which has mainly been dominated by Mercury 2 stroke units. Today Caudwell and Beachy Head unveiled their powerplant and early tests and comments from the F1 fraternity suggest it could be a winner.

The engine is energy efficient, all aluminum Nissan V6 naturally aspirated 3.5 litre powerplant attached to a custom made Axis drive unit. The test unit is fitted in an elderly two seater DAC catamaran and early performance figures indicate it is very fast i.e. it set an unofficial South African speed record of 142 mph and accelerates from standstill to 160 kph is 8 seconds.

Caudwell and Beachy Head indicated that their units will be cost effective and teams are invited to lease the packages from Caudwell as opposed to outright purchase. The next stage of development will be to install engine and drive in new F1 catamaran and set the outfit up in racing mode and the results will be appraised by pilots. If the feedback is positive, the joint venture between Di San Germano and Caudwell could be on the start grid in 2011

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