The 24-hour record is under attack

The 24-hour world record is under attack

July 1st and 2nd, 2023 | Aldenhoven Testing Center (ATC)

➡️ See also: 24 Hours from Aldenhoven (2023)

 

It’s time for another record ride attempt. Yes, it’s about Holger Seidel again. After last year (August 2022), when he managed to break and improve the World Record (which Roland Schell had set on the Milan SL) for crossing Germany from south to north by more than 3 hours, now Holger and his Bülk Mk 1 velomobile (same vehicle as last year), are face to face with another challenge.

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*All the details about August 27/28, 2022 Record Ride (SEE HERE)

*All the details about Bülk Mk 1 velomobile (SEE HERE)

 

Now back to the present… Holger Seidel (48-year-old from Brunswick, Germany) wants to break the 24-hour record set by Christian von Ascheberg (08/01/2010, Milan SL, AVG 50.8 km/h, 1219 km), that is unbeaten for 14 years.

 

In November 2022, Holger began his training for the world record attempt, which will take place on the weekend of July 1-2 at the ATC test track/site in Aldenhoven near Düren (North Rhine-Westphalia). In this world record event, 9 drivers (including Holger) are aiming to improve the existing world records over 6h, 12h and 24h.

 

*All the details about drivers and other info regarding this event (SEE HERE)

*Details about the location (SEE HERE)

*Live News from ATC Record Ride (SEE HERE)

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Holger said that in preparation regularly covered distances between 200 and 600 kilometers and the training also included many intensive sessions on the indoor roller. He also mentioned that the training values suggest a similar state of fitness as last year. He says, since 2010, there hasn’t been such a bundling of record-breaking rides with the velomobile, as now planned in Aldenhoven.

 

Holger Seidel, who is an executive director in the field of experiential education in his professional life, is hoping that temperatures will be within normal limits during the first weekend of July, when the record ride is taking place. ”The ideal conditions would involve a temperature range of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius with dry weather. The key will be to maintain a consistently high speed of over 50 km/h, while using as little energy as possible to do this”, he explained. The lap on the ATC asphalt test track is about two kilometers long, so Holger, the man from Braunschweig, will have to complete it more than 600 times to claim the world record. He said that the plan is to have a maximum break time of 30 minutes for 24 hours.

 

His vehicle (Bülk Mk 1), has been thoroughly optimized from an aerodynamic point of view. For this purpose, the renowned expert Prof. Eric Helter has examined the record-breaking 2022 velomobile in the digital wind tunnel. Ground clearance and balance have a very large impact on the vehicle's aerodynamic efficiency. ”Due to time constraints, it has not yet been possible to implement all the findings for the record, but we can be very excited about the future.” Holger said.

 

Last year, when he managed to break the record for crossing Germany from south to north (1094 km in 29h:57min, from the village of Birgsau in the Allgäu region to the Danish border) and improving it by more than 3 hours, Holger had to deal with three thunderstorm fronts, a raccoon collision, traffic participants, red lights or road users. Nothing has stopped him from reaching his goal. He is a very good athlete, with a strong mind and we believe that he will do everything in his power to reach his purpose also this time (almost forty years of experience are by his side).

 

Good luck, Holger!

 

*Live News from ATC Record Ride (SEE HERE)