Flying electric car racing series partners announces strategic partnership

With first Airspeeder GPs planned for 2021, Acronis’ cyber protection solutions will ensure the data security for the revolutionary LiDAR and Machine Vision technology that will deliver close but safe racing through the creation of virtual force-fields around each racing craft, named ‘Speeders’.

Part of this technology will be delivered by Teknov8, a global provider of cyber security solution that will support Acronis’ partnership with Airspeeder as an Official #CyberFit Delivery Partner.

The accelerated development of this technology in the furnace of close sporting competition will benefit the wider eVTOL (electrical Vertical Take-Off and Landing) sector, an industry backed by giants including Uber, Daimler, Toyota, Hyundai and Airbus.

Widely dubbed as ‘flying electric taxis’ and considered the next great mobility revolution, eVTOL promises to liberate cities and cut journey times with a sustainable flying transport solution. The sector is predicted by Morgan Stanley to be worth $1.5 trillion dollars by 2040.

“At Airspeeder we are creating an aerial motorsport driven by innovation. Backing from Acronis, a business with an extraordinary culture of technological success in Formula One and Formula E represents significant affirmation of our vision to accelerate the next great mobility revolution through sporting competition.”

Matt Pearson, Founder, Alauda & Airspeeder said: "Acronis’ secure data analysis solutions currently enhance the performance of some of the most celebrated sporting entities in the world including Williams Martini Racing, Manchester City Football Club and Liverpool Football Club.

"Acronis’ strategic and commercial support represents further affirmation of Airspeeder and Alauda’s vision to accelerate the next great mobility revolution through sporting competition. This significant partnership follows the confirmation of major institutional investment in the sport and follows existing support from logistics giant DHL and global money management firm Equals.

“Acronis’ place at the leading edge of innovation in data management perfectly aligns with Alauda and Airspeeder’s vision to accelerate a mobility revolution through close sporting competition. Our proven, integrated approach to providing easy, efficient, reliable and secure cyber protection for all data, applications and systems, will help Airspeeder to enhance their performance on the air track and in the back office. We look forward to delivering on the promise of a true next generation technical and sporting proposition.”

Jan-Jaap Jager, the Board Advisor and Senior Vice President at Acronis said: "Airspeeder is built on the philosophy that nothing accelerates technical progress like sporting competition. The next generation sport plays the same role the pioneers of Formula One did nearly a century ago in driving technical development and building public acceptance for a new mobility revolution.

"Acronis and Teknov8’s commercial, technical and strategic support will therefore hasten the arrival of the eVTOL vehicle that promises to provide a long term clean air solution to city congestion through a zero-emissions aerial transport solution.

"Airspeeder is described by global commentators as the ‘Formula One of the skies’, Acronis’ track record in motorsport makes them the perfect technical and strategic partner. The firm’s technical team will manage the streams of live data that will underpin a sport that promises to be the most exciting global sporting and broadcast entity on the planet.

"Airspeeder is a sport driven by technical innovation. Acronis’ data solutions currently ensure the security of the terabytes of data derived from running Formula One cars during testing and racing scenarios. This data is essential to sports like F1 and Airspeeder that require telemetry data to analyse performance and set strategy."

Acronis' cyber protection solutions, like its fully-integrated, AI-powered anti-malware and backup solution Acronis Cyber Protect, are developed based on the Five Vectors of Cyber Protection: Safety, Accessibility, Privacy, Authenticity, and Security (SAPAS). This ensures that these solutions provide the highest caliber of protection for data, while also ensuring that said data is tamper-free and easily accessible for unobstructed day-to-day operations.

Airspeeder’s team and pilots will benefit from real time data including analysis of battery and key systems performance. From this information, engineers will be able to define strategy in real time to find competitive advantage in a sport where every team starts with the same technical platform. This will make for the close and equitable racing motorsports fans crave.

Building a new sport

Airspeeder is the racing series conceived by performance electric flying car marque, Alauda. Elite pilots drawn from aviation, motorsport and even eSports will navigate electrically governed courses above some of the most visually arresting locations in the world.

Electric racing multicopters created by Alauda will fly at speeds of up to 130km/h. Airspeeder GP seasons will be contested by teams who will purchase the original craft and equipment from Alauda, the Airspeeder series’ exclusive manufacturer but will be given freedom to set race strategy and recruit pilots from a pool of elite pilot academy graduates. This will create a technologically even playing field, encouraging greater control for teams to dictate strategy. This approach has been compared to the highly successful Formula E racing series.

Success for teams competing in the Airspeeder series is defined by the skill of individual pilots and the teams’ ability to maximise performance from a truly revolutionary technical platform. Key to this will be the collection and interpretation of data. This will be underpinned by Acronis and its solutions which will ensure the secure and seamless management of data. Key indicators from battery peak performance to pilot biometrics will be available to teams as they plot strategy to gain competitive advantage.

A global entertainment entity, defined by data

Airspeeder’s will globally stream races and interact with the sport’s fan community across multiple devices and channels, Acronis’ work securely managing global fan, follower and partner data for leading sporting entities perfectly empowers Airspeeder to deliver a next generation multimedia experience.

Central to this is equipping Airspeeder with the inherent flexibility to adapt to rapidly shifting requirements of audiences in the way they interact with brands.

Safety through technology

As a progressive, technologically led sport, Airspeeder is driven by the application of big data. As a rovider of cyber protection solutions, Acronis and Teknov8 will ensure an Airspeeder race or flight will never be compromised and that the terabytes of data shared between Speeders and the technical teams supporting them will remain entirely secure.

Airspeeder will be experienced through global multi-channel streaming. Spectators at live events will be limited to VIPs exclusively invited to experience and amplify the action from luxury pavilions. As they compete, Speeders will utilise LiDAR and Machine Vision technology to ensure close but safe racing, with defined and digitally governed no-fly areas surrounding spectators and officials.