British team ECO Racing has announced plans to enter its production-engined bio-diesel car into the opening round of the American Le Mans Series, the Sebring 12 Hours.

The #10 Radical LMP1 car will be driver by Ben Collins, Harri Toivonen and Simon Wright for its debut race which will see the car go up against the might of both Audi and Peugeot.

In 2004 team principal Ian Dawson raced the first ever bio diesel sportscar at Le Mans, two full years ahead of the debut of Audi's diesel racer and three years ahead of fellow diesel powered rival Peugeot.

Since that time, Dawson has continued to develop the production road car based V10 engine, creating a partnership with D1 Oils to use the Jatropha based bio diesel fuel. All test bed and on track testing has been undertaken using Jatropha bio diesel. The Jatropha curcas tree is a drought resistant inedible oilseed plant which makes use of otherwise unusable land and has no impact upon the foodchain.

“The environment and climate change is dominating the news and views of the population, yet our lifestyles continue to demand the very best that science and technology can provide,” he said. “The challenge is to become smarter and more efficient as we pursue our dreams.

“Elite motorsport can play a vital role in the development of energy efficient solutions in materials, electronics, energy storage and fuel technology.”