Drayson Racing Takes Green Racing Message to China

ZHUHAI, CHINA – Drayson Racing will complete its 2010 “Green Racing World Tour” on 7 November in China’s Guangdong Province at the Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC). The United Kingdom-based Le Mans Prototype One (LMP1) team has undertaken a mission unlike any other sportscar team this season with a gruelling, nine-month, three-continent, five-country, 12-race world tour. The independent, privately owned and funded operation has used this global platform to stimulate innovation in green technology and prove the competitiveness of environmentally sustainable motorsport worldwide. For the final time this season, drivers Paul Drayson (Gloucestershire, UK) and Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK) will deliver that message piloting the No.11 Drayson Racing Lola Coupé with Judd Power at the last of the three-round Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC); the 1000Km of Zhuhai.

The team’s Flex-Fuelled Judd V10 is the only prototype racing today which readily converts between the second-generation E85, cellulosic fuel it races with in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) to the E10 variant of bio-ethanol it competes with elsewhere in the world. For China, the Dale White (Bozeman, MT, USA)-managed programme has converted back to the 10 per cent ethanol blend for the fourth time in as many races. Significant man-hours are needed to convert the engine, fuel cell and fuel system used in the E85 events to the E10 system.

The effectiveness of the Flex-Fuel system has been proven multiple times since the team first adorned an LMP1 entry with the Drayson Racing livery in late 2009. Drayson and Cocker gave E85 and Flex-Fuel technology its first major, international motorsport victory in August at Road America. Further showing that “green” can race with traditionally fuelled cars, the team – having first pioneered racing E85 in Britain in 2007 – has three pole positions (Japan last year, Mid-Ohio and Road America this season). Drayson Racing is also the first team to win the Michelin® Green X® Challenge in two different series and holds four such trophies with the Asian Le Mans Series last November in Japan as well as this season ALMS awards at Salt Lake City, Road America, and the most recent event, the Petit Le Mans.

The first, permanent racecourse built in China (completed in 1996), the ZIC measures 4.3Km/2.67-miles in length. The dauntingly quick track should see the No.11 reach speeds close to 200mph (320Km) on the long, main straightaway. However, with eight significant straights tying the 14 turns together, the entire facility is one of the quickest the closed-cockpit, Michelin tyre-shod entry has seen all season. The facility will be new to Paul Drayson. However, for Cocker, the track has fond memories having been a part of his 2005 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Championship in 2005. Asia itself holds a special place to the team having been the site of its first overall pole position and Michelin Green X Challenge at the inaugural Asian Le Mans Series event last November in Okayama, Japan.

Live timing and scoring can be found at www.lemans.org. The live call by Radio Le Mans can be heard at www.radiolemans.com. Flag-to-flag television coverage of the 7 November, six-hour race can be seen after a one-hour tape-delay on MotorsTV. EuroSport will carry the final two hours of the race as well. Highlights are scheduled to be shown on SPEED for North American viewers. Check local listings for specifics in your area, worldwide. 

Quotes

Paul Drayson\\Owner/Driver:”I am delighted to be bringing our green technology racing programme to the first ever Le Mans series race in China. Road transport contributes approximately a quarter of all CO2 gas emissions, the main cause of climate change. Although motorsport “going green” only contributes a tiny proportion to carbon reduction – it has a massive effect on the pace of green technology R&D and on public attitudes. Now is the time to bring green technology motor racing to China, it is the world’s largest car market and grew 50% over the past year.”

Jonny Cocker\\Driver: “Asia is a very exciting place for teams and drivers to compete. The character of the circuits are quite different to America and Europe. That adds to the challenge going from one place to another throughout the season. The nature of the Zhuhai Circuit will suit our car pretty well. We will be able to use the fantastic low speed handling characteristics of the Lola chassis and the incredible drive ability of the Judd V10 to our advantage this weekend! I really enjoy driving in Asia. The fans are very enthusiastic and it brings back great memories of our success from last year’s Asian Le Mans Series race in Japan.”

Dale White\\Team Manager: “Racing in China is going to be a challenge. However, we have risen to every challenge so far. I am very proud of the effort the team has put in not just to turn the car around so quickly since taking the chequered flag at Petit Le Mans but all season. We have made the switch between fuels five times this year, four times in the last four races! That is a huge pressure on the team. The guys have been away from their families a lot this year but they have never backed down. That takes strong determination. The performance on and off-track has proven we should be considered among the elite teams in sportscar racing and we have done it after only two full seasons. That is almost unheard of in this sport.”

Visit the official Drayson Racing web site at www.draysonracing.com.

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