BTCC to Limit CO2 Emiisions in Motorsport
World First
26 November 2007
The British Touring Car Championship is to become the first motor
racing series in the world to place a limit on CO2 emission levels
produced by its competing cars.
Emissions testing on all cars competing in the BTCC will come into
force in 2009, following a programme of research and development in
2008 in consultation with the championship’s major engine builders
and race teams.
Each competing car’s engine will be required to be below a maximum
CO2 emission level, which it is anticipated will be no greater than
its showroom model. In future years it is hoped that further development
will lead to emissions of each engine actually being pushed below its
respective road equivalent.
BTCC Series Director Alan Gow commented: "With both the motor
industry and Government committed to reducing cars’ emission
levels, we have an equal responsibility and opportunity to do the same – and
this is the most positive and relevant step the BTCC can take to demonstrate
our genuine, similar commitment.
"Our new emissions regulation also provides an ideal showcase
for effective motor sport technology – to greatly reduce and
regulate our emissions without any discernable loss of performance.
This meets the desires of motor manufacturers and sponsors who wish
to ensure that everything they are involved with conducts itself in
as an environmentally-responsible manner as possible."
He added: "We could, of course, have simply mandated the use
of bio-fuels. However, reducing our race car emissions to a figure
at, or below, their road car equivalent with the type of fuel that
we all normally use is, I believe, a far more relevant and meaningful
commitment – particularly as bio-fuels are not readily available
to the public, nor widely used in everyday life.
"Equally, we could just pay an organisation to plant a few trees
for our carbon offset, but that doesn’t address the issue of
the carbon emissions at their source; nor does it drive technology
forward."
The BTCC, Britain’s most popular race series, has often led
the way in motor sport when it comes to addressing environmental issues.
In 1992, it became the first series in the UK – and one of the
first in the world – to make catalytic converters and unleaded
fuel mandatory across its grid. During the past four years, its regulations
have enabled cars running on liquid petroleum gas (LPG), bio-ethanol
and bio-diesel fuels to compete alongside those with petrol-powered
engines.
Gow said: "To my knowledge no other major championship in the
world has a regulation to enforce a maximum emissions level. Our BTCC
teams have enthusiastically supported its introduction and will relish
the challenge. I have no doubt that many other championships in the
UK, and indeed around the world, will eventually follow this route – so
I’m very proud of our world-leading initiative."
BTCC.net
See series calendar for British
Touring Car Championship 2007
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