Thursday, 10th July 2008

ECO Racing's biodiesel-powered Radical will compete in LMP1 at three American Le Mans Series events later this season.

The environmentally inspired British racing team ECO Racing is to race its production-engined bio-diesel sports prototype race car in three of the most challenging events on the American Le Mans Series calendar: Road America, Road Atlanta and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Between the Road America and Atlanta events, the team will also race in the final round of the European Le Mans Series, the 1,000km classic at Silverstone on September 13-14.

The four-hour races at Road America and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the six-hour test of Silverstone and the gruelling 1,000 miles/10 hours of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta constitute a unique 24-hour challenge that will stretch ECO Racing's LMP1 race car and production V10 engine to the limits of endurance.

The drivers of the ECO Racing Radical LMP1 sports prototype will be announced in the next few weeks.

The team has been created by pioneering race engineer Ian Dawson and is dedicated to developing, using and showcasing environmentally efficient technologies through elite international motorsport.

In 2004 Dawson raced the first bio-diesel sports car 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 that makes use of otherwise unusable land and has no impact upon the food chain.

"We have chosen four very challenging events that will stretch the team and the car to its limits,” said Dawson. “After our difficulties at Sebring, the team and our partners Radical and AER have worked very hard to create the best possible baseline for us to begin our journey into 2009."

Having already had a shakedown test the car will undergo performance and durability testing in the UK before being shipped to the US for the Generac 500 presented by Time Warner Cable at Road America on August 9.

Related Images

[Top of Article]