First ever North American E85-powered rally car to compete in 2007 Rally America Group 2
If you are not familiar with Rally racing, do yourself a favor and check it out. Rallying is not so popular in the United States, but that may change with stars such as Travis Pastrana taking it up. There is an American series, the 2007 Rally America, and in Group 2, there you'll find the first American rally racer configured to run E85.
According to the team, the Boullion brothers of Ruf Road Motorsports, "Are trying to promote the use of alternative fuel in everyday life, and part of that life for them is rally racing. With Ford and General Motors promoting the use of alternative fuels, Ruf Road Motorsports wanted to follow their lead and introduce E85 to the racing community. The team intends to show the public and the racing community that race cars using alternative fuels can compete with vehicles running gasoline, and hopefully will encourage others to use alternative fuels."
This goes along well with the article on the W9 engine that runs on ethanol, the 1000 HP Viper for the street and the Record Setting Viper on E85. It seems that ethanol's high octane rating has gotten some attention. I wonder if the days of electric rally cars or fuel-cell rally cars will come? Well, with the Hydrogen Racing Federation starting and NEDRA going strong, anything is possible now, isn't it?
Thanks for the tip, Adam (a Boullion-brother himself)!
[Source: Ruf Road Motorsports via Special Stage]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Phil L. 10:54AM (1/26/2007)
Motorsport as a whole has great potential for developing and raising public awareness of alternative fuels and technologies.
Peter M. DeLorenzo's Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation is but one high-profile example:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/01/11/hydrogen-electric-racing-federation-begins-competition-in-2009-w/
Even if hydrogen doesn't make sense yet (a point often discussed on this site), racing can be an effective path to develop and test technology in a way that typical industry efforts can't match.
Personally, I'd love to see some form of battery EV racing that can sustain public interest (yes, I know about EV drag racing - but drag racing in any form just doesn't do much for me).
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TDI_Nick 2:30AM (1/27/2007)
There has been a biodiesel TDI Rally VW based out of Ohio for at least 4 years now.
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