in motor sport world first
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.”
