Engineer sets world record with remote control car

A part-time motorcycle engineer whose speedy remote control car set a world record has put the success down to a fascination linked to his childhood.

It took Stephen Wallis from Rugby more than a year to design The Beast - a 3ft 2in-long (1m) car made from 3D-printed components and drone motors.

While he had a stated aim of achieving a top speed of 200mph (321.8km/h), his secret target was 240mph (386km/h). He did not quite get there, but the attempt helped him set the fastest-ever speed recorded by a remote control car - 234.71mph (377.7km/h).

"It goes back to when I was eight years old and got my first radio controlled car," Wallis said.

To place the record in some context, The Beast is faster than a production model McLaren F1.

"The Beast is powered by four drone motors, bolted directly to the wheels which are in turn bolted directly to the vehicle's chassis," the part-time engineer at Royal Enfield Motorcycles in Leicestershire explained.

He added that while the design did not prove too tricky, the electronics were a real challenge.

"It turns out it would never have done 240mph with that original set-up, but I went away and learned as much as I could about brush-less motors and how you can make them go faster," he said.

After testing, he took the car to the Radio Operated Scale Speed Association (ROSSA) meeting at LLanbedr Airfield in North Wales in September, where it set a speed 16mph (25.7km/h) faster than the previous record holder.

Apart from getting a Guinness World Record certificate, Wallis also received a cap from ROSSA to mark the achievement. And because no-one had gone as fast before, he got to choose its colours.

"The Beast is a mix of white, neon green and pink, because they are visible at a distance," he said.

"So my son suggested neon green with neon pink writing, but that was too garish [for a hat], so I went with neon green with black writing."

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