Castrol South Africa is preparing to supply its world class products to one of the world’s most ambitious engineering products, set to take place in SA in 2016. It has also recently invested in a product that could improve the safety of the thousands of drivers who enjoy live sports events around SA.
Castrol South Africa is on the cusp of a very exciting time. The global oil and lubricant giant is a company whose work often goes unnoticed but its presence certainly does not. With a number of very important projects under way, Castrol is ensuring that its name is not one that is overlooked.
The British company opened its doors in SA in 1929 in Jo’burg, Durban and Cape Town before moving into Zimbabwe in 1939. A blending plant and more branches followed in 1945 and by 1946 SA was the third largest of Castrol’s overseas markets after Australia and India. The mining industry was a big consumer of Castrol’s products and over the years, the brand continued to grow adding more product lines, more facilities and more advanced technology.
Today, the company is the country’s leading oil and lubricant supplier and is well-known because of its conspicuous marketing strategy. Castrol sponsors and supplies racing teams, sports events, aerial challenges, and many more widely-viewed public spectacles.
One of the biggest and most important of these spectacles is set to take place soon in Hakskeen Pan, Northern Cape where the Bloodhound supersonic (SSC) rocket car will attempt to break the world land speed record by 33% and reach a top speed of 1050mph. Castrol has been named as the provider of high performance lubricants, brake and hydraulic fluids, drawing on its historic achievements where the land speed record has been broken 21 times using Castrol products.
The company says: “Man has always dreamed of going faster, pushing boundaries to break the land speed record. Castrol’s pioneering spirit helps to achieve the impossible – driven by restless ambition for innovation and technology. Going faster and faster with almost a century of land speed records, to reach 1000mph in 2016, Castrol has been at the heart of all of this – fuelling the dreams of pioneers.”
Paul Waterman, Global Chief Executive of Castrol said: “We are delighted to support the Bloodhound project. At Castrol, we have a proud history of fuelling pioneers and this partnership gives us the chance to showcase how our high performance products set new standards and push boundaries.”
Bloodhound Project Director, Richard Noble said: “We are delighted that Castrol has joined the team. Their brand is synonymous with racing at the highest levels and, of course, with many pioneering achievements in Land Speed Racing – I am happy to continue a 30 years relationship with Castrol having worked with them on both Thrust 2 and Thrust SSC projects. They are a great brand and will not only work with us on the technical side, they will help us share this engineering adventure with a global audience.”
Obviously, the Bloodhound SSC is a highly complex vehicle that needs the most advanced care possible. It has been developed with industry-leading expertise from all over the globe at the Bloodhound headquarters in Bristol, UK. The car is named after the Bristol Bloodhound 2 missile that could accelerate from standstill to Mach 1 in 2.5 seconds.
Hakskeen Pan was chosen as the location for the record attempt after a detailed research programme undertaken by the Bloodhound team and the University of Swansea. The desert fit the criteria of having no vegetation and having at least a 10 mile space for a track. The strip is also flat and quite smooth, although it has needed work, and under the surface it is hard meaning that it won’t break up easily under pressure.
A 12 mile long, 1500 metre wide track was needed and has been built, with a lot of hard work from the local community, and the area is almost ready for testing to begin. The team in the Northern Cape had to shift 16,000 tonnes of stone by hand in order to smooth the surface. However, the surface is still not perfect and special suspension has been designed to keep the car and people safe when testing begins.
Castrol will be supplying a number of advanced products during testing, qualifying and for the record attempts. One of the main products will be Castrol EDGE, the company’s strongest ever engine oil. The 135,000 thrust hp car will also use motorsport formula brake fluid – Castrol React SRF and Castrol hydraulic fluids previously used by NASA.
Castrol EDGE, boosted with TITANIUM Fluid Strength Technology (FST), was introduced to South Africa in June 2014 amid much fanfare. TITANIUM FST was developed at the Castrol Technology Centrein the UK and is designed to double the film strength of motor oil, prevent oil film breakdown and reduce friction. It physically changes the way oil behaves under extreme pressure and helps form a protective shock-absorbing film that prevents damaging metal-to-metal contact. The oil has been developed in response to car manufacturers’ downsizing, turbocharging and advanced engine designs, such as direct fuel injection and variable valve timing. This has resulted in engine pressures tripling in the last 20 years, causing greaterstress on the oil. Advances in engine designs and technologies being developed by car manufacturers aim to deliver greater efficiency, but also mean that engines are working harder and under higher pressures than ever before. The only thing keeping metal engine components apart is the oil, so it needs to be strong and remain strong.
The launch of Castrol EDGE saw experienced racing drivers from various manufacturers drive cars at high speeds around courses in total darkness, illuminated only by beams of light from the edge of the track. The drivers raced against the lights which quickly flashed on and off, revealing the twists and turns for just a few seconds. South African driver and competitor in the Super Trofeo Series, Adrain Zaugg, took part in the local trial in a Lamborghini Aventador. This type of promotion is typical of Castrol’s energetic marketing strategy.
Castrol technology manager for Africa, Rob Bowen said of the oil: “Top scientists and engineers have worked on the development of the motor oil and it has undergone rigorous testing in hundreds of individual car engine tests, equivalent to completing nearly 1.9 million miles, or more than three million kilometres.”
Away from oils and engines, Castrol South Africa has been looking out for its end users in a safety campaign that is focussed on drivers who attend sporting events. As a big sponsorship partner of some major sporting occasions, Castrol has invested in an innovation that could mean the difference between life, death or prison for drivers who head to the game and like to have a drink.
The Vuvu-Lyza is a type of breathalyser developed by Castrol and Ogilvy Cape Town which indicates whether or not consumers are over the legal blood-alcohol driving limit. Shaped and designed to work exactly like a functioning vuvuzela, you simply blow and receive a greenlight if you’re safe and a red light if you’re over the limit.
Brand Manager of Castrol South Africa, Pooja Desai said: “We are so proud of this safety initiative inspired by something so synonymous with our local football culture. We are sure the Vuvu-Lyza will be a hit once it becomes available to public.”
In a promotional video, Castrol explains the technology behind the innovation: “Whenever there’s a big match, thousands of drivers make their way to stadiums and sports bars. While many of them choose Castrol to take care of their engines, they forget about other dangers on the road, like when they’re driving back home, unaware that they might be over the legal alcohol limit.
“So how can we give soccer fans a safer experience through innovation and protect them just like we protect their engines? The breathalyser test is the most common method for alcohol testing but it’s invasive so we combined the vuvuzela that everybody loves, with the breathalyser that everybody hates and created the Castrol Vuvu-Lyza. We placed a circuit board with an ethanol sensor and LED lights that run off a nine volt battery inside a vuvuzela and piloted the technology at soccer matches and sports bars. For the first time ever, drivers could use vuvuzelas to enjoy the game and to arrive home safely.”
This fantastic innovation proves that Castrol is committed to its customers in South Africa and as it continues to innovate and offer world class products, it is certain to remain at the forefront of the industry, leading the way in lubricants and motor oils.