Asian Motor Sports

The second annual Hamilton 400 event is set to reduce greenhouse emissions with the move to ethanol for V8 Supercars at the 2009 race.

Ethanol will be the official fuel for the V8 Supercar Championship next year to add to the significant joint initiatives between Hamilton 400 and Hamilton City Council to reduce carbon emissions at the event on 17-19 April, 2009. These include the free public transport for Hamilton city during the event, park and ride buses for race goers and a major recycling programme as well as the V8 Racing Green program by V8 Supercars.

The fuel to be used by the high performance V8 Supercars is E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent unleaded petrol.

Hamilton 400 Event Director Steve Vuleta said that the change to E85 ethanol will make a significant difference.

“Reports from the company supplying the E85 that we will use indicate that it will produce less than half the CO2 emissions,” Mr Vuleta said.

Added to this is that the particular type of ethanol comes from a by-product of crushing sugarcane crops.

“It’s made from molasses which is a by-product of sugar production and is not a food staple. So we are also helping by finding a great use of a by-product.”

Mr Vuleta said the product has been fully tested on V8 Supercars and believes this fuel will become a viable alternative for motorists in the future.

“We have already established a number of initiatives for our first event this year to reduce carbon emissions. The use of ethanol is another step in this process, and we hope it will set an example to the wider community as the fuel of the future,” he said.

The E85 blend has undergone rigorous testing which has shown it will easily convert to the most sophisticated of V8 Supercar engines.

“This is a great outcome for the sport and the environment,” said champion driver Craig Lowndes. “I noticed absolutely no difference in power or performance between the ethanol fuel and our current petrol blend. What we did notice was the massive reduction in exhaust fumes and how much cleaner the E85 burns. It was very dramatic.”

The second Hamilton 400 will again cover the costs of the Hamilton public bus service for the three days of the event, run a Park N Ride bus service for fans travelling to Hamilton and is to embark on a new recycling venture aimed at recycling more than 90 per cent of the waste from the event.