Interesting subject this
Only up to point though lynxy, as far as I'm concerned race cars should run on petrol (the more flammable the better) and make a terrible apocalyptic racket at all speeds. All this alternative fuel business is politically driven misplaced hogwash.
The flywheel one's a good'un though. In my minds eye I can see one of those little toy cars you used to push around the lino when you were a nipper, - next to the little mini driver was a friction driven flywheel (if you were lucky it was also connected up loosely to something that made big sparks and crackled), a few pushes to wind it up to speed would then send it like a homing missile into either the cat or a younger sibling who wasn't yet in full command of their legs and dribbling mechanisms.
In those days I could only dream of a 24kg eight inch flywheel doing 64,500rpm. Maybe in the pit stops the mechanics would have to push it backwards and forwards to wind up the flywheel enough to send it scuttling, in a shower of sparks and cat fur, up the pit lane and back into the race. I'm also intrigued as to what would happen to the flywheel in the event of a large, component creating crash. The little thing would be buzzing and jumping around the track like the Warner Bros Tasmanian Devil, - 64,500 rpm isn't going to go away very quickly, and chasing it with a fire extinguisher and a whistle isn't going to help much. I can see an accident at Indianapolis and the flywheel making back to the pits under it's own steam.
Or perhaps the flywheel would have a gyroscope effect, and the pit straight would be replaced by a very long piece of string and the car could shoot along it on two wheels while the driver licks at a Mivvy and waves to the crowds. I'd pay to see it.
Maybe they should stick to petrol.
H
