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Emission reduction service for motor sport - BTCC reveals world first CO2 testing

New CO2 emission testing that could significantly influence some major forms of motor sport, on a global scale, was revealed in June 2009 by the British Touring Car Championship.

The BTCC, Britain’s highest-profile motor racing championship, will establish and regularly test its competing cars’ CO2 figures in order to reduce them to those of their showroom counterparts. This will be measured by using a rolling road drive-cycle specifically developed for BTCC race cars, to give a meaningful comparison alongside their equivalent road models.
The BTCC’s latest move is fully endorsed by Energy Efficient Motorsport (EEMS), a Government-sponsored sector initiative whose aim is to put energy efficiency at the heart of modern motor sport. It says the BTCC’s CO2 measures are the most relevant it has seen. Also central to this programme has been Horiba Instruments Limited, the biggest supplier of emissions testing devices in Europe.

Cars running to the BTCC’s latest set of two-litre technical regulations (Super 2000) have already been put through Land Rover’s laboratory ahead of the championship’s 2009 race season that starts at Brands Hatch on 5 April. Those tests have shown that the BTCC teams and their race engine developers are on target to meet the new regulations without foregoing any meaningful loss in power. BTCC cars (and their road-going equivalents) to be tested include BMW 320si, Chevrolet Lacetti, Ford Focus ST, Honda Civic, SEAT Leon and Vauxhall Vectra.

BTCC Series Director Alan Gow said: “What we are undertaking in 2009 is a world first in motor sport. Yes, we could have gone down the easier path of simply mandating the use of bio-fuels or adopting a less technically-challenging ‘panacea’. But the BTCC wants to see emission levels genuinely reduced and that is why we are taking this route – in other words tackling CO2 emissions directly at their source; namely the engines themselves.
“Our sport is full of incredibly clever, very talented engineers and this initiative is a great demonstration of their ability to tackle such issues head-on. ...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. This of course is the beginning of a long-term strategy from the BTCC and we hope in future to even push our race cars’ CO2 levels to beneath those of their road-going equivalents.”