The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) is moving closer to switching all competitors on the grid to sustainable petrol.
It follows a recent successful trial with the synthetic, low-emissions fuel during the Silverstone rounds of the 2024 BTCC series.
Daryl DeLeon used the fuel for the complete race weekend in his Duckhams Racing Cupra Leon, racking up 198 miles of competitive driving.
DeLeon finished every session without suffering any fuel-related issues. His pace was also similar to cars running on the regular control championship fuel.
Same performance, lower emissions
The new BTCC race fuel has been developed by Haltermann Carless. Its Hiperflo ECO102 R100 petrol meets FIA requirements to be classed as a sustainable fuel.
Compared to traditional fossil fuels, the sustainable petrol manages to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent when measured on a wheel-to-well basis.
Should the full BTCC grid adopt the sustainable fuel, CO2 emissions from the series would be reduced by 50,000 kg over an entire season.
Crucially, the Haltermann Carless sustainable fuel is intended to be a ‘pure drop-in solution’, requiring no hardware modifications to existing engines.
Looking to a sustainable future
Alan Gow, chief executive of the BTCC, said: “We are delighted with the significant progress we have made with regard to 100 percent sustainable fuel – working closely alongside Haltermann Carless and our teams – with last weekend’s results representing a significant milestone in the project.
“The development work doesn’t stop here, however, as we actively strive to even further improve the efficiency and performance of the sustainable fuel going forward.
“This is an important and essential step for the BTCC as we continue to look to maintain the competitiveness and excitement synonymous with our championship, but in a more sustainable way.”
As a further test, DeLeon will make use of the sustainable fuel again for this weekend’s BTCC finale at Brands Hatch.
The plan is then to make the sustainable option become the default control fuel for the race series in the near future.
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