Castrol EDGE Speed of Cult - Awesome!

​Unless you’ve been living under that proverbial rock, you’ll no doubt have heard of the Bloodhound Project – a World Land Speed Record attempt in the Bloodhound supersonic car. This will be taking place right here in SA next year at the very long and very flat Hakskeen Pan in the Northern Cape. 

    The folk at Castrol have once again cemented themselves as the global sponsor for this attempt, as they have done for just about every event like this in history. To make sure that everyone in the world knows it, Castrol have put together a bunch of awesome events to promote the historical attempt. Last month they hosted an event in Fourways dubbed Castrol EDGE Speed Cult and it was full of well-known people in the motoring industry along with many other speed freaks and car club representatives. I was lucky enough to crack an invite because, well, that’s how I roll.    

    It rocked right; great food, great drinks (with a driver service on hand for those who overindulged), great people and more importantly, great cars. There was also a drift demonstration by drift champion Jason Webb. All in all, it was a great way to fuel the octane in my veins. Yes, I used that line, but it’s the truth. 

    It turns out there was a competition happening on the night where attendees had to Tweet pics of the night using specific hashtags. I do that at events anyway so I was sort of entered by default. I didn’t know what the prize was but I snapped pics and tweeted away regardless. At the end of the night after all the speeches and presentations they were announcing winners over the PA system, two names were called, these were the winners of another competition where people got to design their own virtual racecars. Then I heard my name too, I‘d won the Twitter competition – but I still didn’t know what the prize was until I was called up to receive a certificate. Here’s an excerpt from the Castrol press release…
 
    “Baker and Mtshali were adjudged to have designed the nights’ best cars and their names will be printed on the Bloodhound SSC’s tailfin when it takes to the dry lake bed late in 2016. Twitter ace Chris Wall (that’s me!) used his fast fingers to secure a similar spot in the history books.”

    Yeah, that’s right – the name Chris Wall will be printed on Bloodhound SSC. Freaking bonus! I got hold of the Castrol people to say that if they funded it, I’d love to return the favour and get a tattoo of Bloodhound SSC, but I’ve had no reply on that. Bugger. 

    It ended up being a pretty damn cool night out. I’m not sure which Tweeted pic or video won, but here they are so you can see how easy it was. This is why I enter nearly every competition I hear about. I even won a Bratz doll the other day – because competition.  Also ironic, I win a comp to do with photos on one of the very few events I've attended without a camera... 

 The full Castrol press release follows below the pics. 

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Johannesburg, 13 October 2015 – South Africans Chris Wall, Lindiwe Mtshali and Philip Baker won the chance to see their names rush to 800mph – or 1 287km/h – and a new World Land Speed record next year. Castrol, as a global sponsor for the Bloodhound Project, stamped its mark on the upcoming World Land Speed Record attempt with a glittering event designed to showcase the world’s fastest lubricants.
 
Guests at the Johannesburg Castrol EDGE Speed Cult were invited to explore a number of innovative tools designed to bring the Bloodhound experience within easy reach. Guests could also “design” their own virtual racecars to stand a chance to win their place in history. Baker and Mtshali were adjudged to have designed the nights’ best cars and their names will be printed on the Bloodhound SSC’s tailfin when it takes to the dry lake bed late in 2016. Twitter ace Chris Wall used his fast fingers to secure a similar spot in the history books.
 
The night’s celebration of speed was topped by a display of fast and rare sports cars, including a Ford GT40, Jaguar F-Type S Coupe, Nissan GT-R and a yet-to-be-launched Ford Mustang. The crowd was, however, mesmerised by the smoking clouds and ear-splitting engine roars as Monster Energy driver and local drift champ, Jason Webb, took to a specially-designed course. 

    Castrol has historically supported the spectacular feats of early pioneers and record breakers, and its notable heritage in land speed racing is further testament to this. The record has been set 21 times with Castrol as a partner. It was instrumental in Sir Malcolm Campbell’s first attempt in 1924 (he reached 235 km/h in the Sunbeam), and Castrol was on hand when Bloodhound pilot Andy Green set the current record (1 228 km/h) in Thrust SSC in 1997.

​    Castrol products span a range of performance activities, from Bloodhound SSC’s desert track, to an urban spinning ring and your personal car. Castrol will provide a number of high-tech lubricants to the 2016 World Land Speed record attempt, including Castrol EDGE with Titanium Fluid Strength Technology – its strongest oil ever.

    Shren Moodley, Castrol’s Marketing Manager for Africa, said: “We are extremely proud to be involved in this event and to see our brand being represented in a global spectacle happening right on our doorstep.  “At Castrol, we have over 110 years built a proud history of fuelling pioneers and this partnership gives us the chance to showcase how our high performance products set new standards and continue to push boundaries.”