Later this month, a bio-ethanol fuelled racer will take on the establishment' in BTCC to showcase alternative fuels, thanks to Government backing.

Triple Eight Race Engineering, the team that prepared the 2004 championship-winning Vauxhall Astra coupes, has secured backing from Motorsport Development UK under its EEMS (Energy Efficient Motorsport) initiative to convert one of their 2004 cars to bio-ethanol fuel. The car will be run by Junior Vauxhall team Tech-Speed for rising star Fiona Leggate. It is due to race at Croft on July 16/17 and contest the remaining rounds of the championship.

As well as running on ecologically sound bio-ethanol, which is made from vegetable matter such as crop residues, the Astra coupe racer will be used to test the prototype of a ground-breaking device intended to open the door for racers with different fuels to compete side by side in the future.  Adoption of the fuel equivalence' device could lead to a challenge of gasoline's dominance as the fuel of choice in motorsport in as little as three years.

EEMS Project Leader Dr Steve Bunkhall said: Encouraging greater numbers of alternatively fuelled entrants to compete with conventional racers on the track is part of a process to help the public accept new fuels in road cars. This project shows how motorsport can inspire and showcase new technologies from which the car industry can benefit.

Alan Gow, Series Director, BTCC said: We are highly visible and accessible to the public because of the obvious relationship between our racing cars and their road-going equivalents. For that reason the BTCC is an excellent platform to raise public awareness of alternative fuels and how they might find their way into the cars you and I drive on the road. I'm excited that we're playing a part in that process and I'm looking forward to seeing a bio-ethanol fuelled car in the mix for the remainder of the season.

The prototype device fitted to the Triple Eight racer, details of which remain undisclosed at present, will enable championship organisers to regulate differently-fuelled vehicles competing against each other through controlling the fuel energy allowed to power the cars. This means the on-track competition is not compromised as has been the case in previous attempts to race differently-fuelled cars, where equivalence was controlled by indirect means such as minimum weights, air intake restrictors or other adjustments. The EEMS project team is already in discussions with two groups of motorsports organisers hoping to introduce this technology to their championships.

-ends-

Editor's Notes:

Fiona Leggate will be the first woman to race in the British Touring Car Championship for 6 years. This season she has campaigned an MG ZR in the MG Trophy in preparation for her debut in the bio-ethanol fuelled Astra. She competed in the Britcar series in 2004, finishing 1st in class and 2nd overall.

Her father is a major vegetable grower and wholesaler - so in theory her car could run on fuel produced from crops grown by her father! 

The EEMS sponsorship deal has secured the conversion and development of the Astra racer to run on bio-ethanol, with Tech-Speed and their backers funding the race programme itself.

Bio-ethanol is close to being environmentally neutral' as it is produced from the fermentation of sustainable source crops including maize and wheat which absorb CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow.  Only the energy actually used in the harvesting and fermentation of the fuel contributes to global warming.  Bio-ethanol can be used as a fuel in its pure form or mixed with petrol as a blend.

EEMS - The aim of the initiative is to establish UK global leadership in energy efficient motorsport through the development of the commercial, entertainment and environmental aspects of energy efficient racing formulae.

Motorsport Development UK is a partnership of public and private sector organisations that is leading a 16m five-year programme to sustain and develop UK motorsport. The backers include the four regional development agencies at the heart of Motorsport Valley - AWM, EEDA, EMDA and SEEDA - together with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

The programme stimulates action in several key areas, by working with and part-funding programmes delivered by motorsport stakeholders. Examples include Energy Efficient Motorsport, support for the training of volunteer officials, programmes aimed at widening participation in the sport and a Learning Grid' of education initiatives.