Oaktec, the team behind the pioneering Honda Insight Hybrid rally car, is looking to expand its programme in 2007 by developing a circuit-racing version.
Running with support from Motorsport Development UK through the Energy Efficient Motorsport programme, Oaktec partners Paul Andrews and Bill Meeson clinched success in Class A of the Formula 1000 Rally Championship with the unique car – which also switched to bio-ethanol fuel part way through the 2006 season, making it one of the cleanest competition cars anywhere in the world.
“Our engineers at EEMS believe that this is the cleanest, greenest and in some ways, the most advanced competition car anywhere in the world,” Andrews explained to
Crash.net, “because it uses bio-fuel, it uses a hybrid system, had fantastic aerodynamics – which is Honda's work and not ours – and is a lightweight aluminium construction. It does all the things that optimise the use of energy and we've taken Honda's package and taken it in a different direction and used it for motorsport. It is a really effective car on many levels.”
The one litre car uses a V-TEC three-cylinder engine with an electric motor/generator built into the flywheel, which boosts performance under acceleration and converts wasted braking energy into electricity which is then stored in a 22kg battery pack.
Although not designed to take to the stages, the team developed the car from scratch – including the introduction of a CVT gearbox and a special engine management system – and went on to take the title, something Andrews said hadn't been expected at the start of the year.
![Paul Andrews, Bill Meeson - Oaktec Honda Insight LEV [Pic credit: EEMS]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/286197.jpg)
