British Touring Car Championship to begin testing CO2 emissions
Motorsports of all kinds are feeling the pressure to reduce their environmental footprint, and the British Touring Car Championship is no different. In an effort to demonstrate their commitment to green racing (a contradiction in terms?), the BTCC has started testing the race cars of its various contenders at Land Rover's lab in Solihull to be sure that their carbon emissions are in line with the road cars on which they are based. Alan Gow, BTCC series director, says, "To my mind, it's a far more meaningful demonstration of our credentials to motor manufacturers, environmental groups, sponsors, the government, motorists and the BTCC's many millions of fans than us taking less convincing (or demanding) steps."
That may be true, but we should all remember that a vehicle's carbon emissions are directly related to how much fuel it is burning. This being the case, cars that are being driven as hard as possible in an effort to win races are never really going to be environmentally friendly. Still, it's an appreciated step in the right direction.
[Source: BTCC, Channel 4]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ale 9:08PM (3/08/2009)
and more importantly, image is everything. If done correctly racing will breed innovation and if rewarded, further gains in reduction are possible
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Umai Kakudo 2:16PM (3/09/2009)
I'd hazard a guess that the average race car burns less fuel than then average road car in a year due to the significantly lower amount of run time.
Because it is a large industry that has a proven track record of driving technological advances that make road cars safer and more efficient it's important to keep them running while encouraging them to tackle environmental related engineering challenges Ala KERS, diesel, biofuels, etc.
I'd give up my daily driver before I'd give up my race car. ; )
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