RaceFuels has been at the forefront of the fuel crisis in Australia in recent weeks which has included frantic efforts to supply major events such as the Phillip Island Classic, the GT Festival at Phillip Island and this weekend’s 6 Hour.
According to RaceFuels boss Mark Tierney the 6 Hour has been particularly challenging based on two key factors – location and transport costs.
While sourcing supply of 98 RON product has been doable, it has mostly had to come from Melbourne rather than Sydney, which paired with a spike in the cost of diesel – and ongoing question marks over the sheer availability of diesel – has been problematic.
“For the first time in the 25 years of myself being involved in fuel supply, our regular suppliers, mainly the BP terminal in Yarraville and our suppliers in Sydney and Brisbane, weren’t able to supply,” Tierney told Speedcafe.
“This all happened within a week of the Australian Grand Prix, which we certainly weren’t expecting.
“We had to get a lot petrol to the SRO event at Phillip Island, 18,000 litres, and for the Bathurst 6 Hour, that requires us to have 50,000 litres on hand.
“Traditionally we source the Bathurst fuel from Sydney because logistically the cheapest way to secure fuel is to cut down logistics. Suddenly, we can get fuel, which is great, but we can only get it in Melbourne.
“For example, out of Sydney we’ve had a relationship with a local supplier for 10 years. We pick up 7000 litres every 10 days. For the first time in 10 years they simply can’t get the job done for us.
“We’ve had to send two tankers from Melbourne to Bathurst, and in the meantime the price of diesel has doubled.
“Bathurst has been covered by some frantic movements. We are a small company, we use a 16,000 litre rigid tanker truck to collect from the Yarraville terminal. We need 55,000 litres of 98 RON, so lots of shuttle runs, and lots of work, to get the stock for Bathurst. Because we simply could not get it from our normal channels.
“But we have the stock for Bathurst. We have a 200-litre drum per car and the tankers are connected to bowsers ready to roll.”
A key part of the RaceFuels business is as the supplier of the specifically-blended, BP-branded racing fuel for Supercars.
As it stands there is no immediate danger to Supercars events, given that the fuel for the New Zealand double-header has already been shipped and teams won’t be using their own transporters.
There is confidence the Symmons Plains event will go ahead, although crossing the Bass Strait is expected to become more expensive as part of the fuel crisis.
Beyond that, however, much could depend on what is expected to be a national address regarding fuel rationing by the Australian government this evening.
Tierney admits that the long-haul runs to the likes of Darwin, Townsville and Perth could feasibly be vulnerable to rationing measures should they become severe.
Effectively, supply of the fuel required to run a race car isn’t an issue. But government measures stopping the transporters in their tracks, if not deemed an essential use of diesel, could be.
“RaceFuels, as a company, can catch its breath for the time being,” explained Tierney.
“We’ve got GT World Challenge Asia at Sepang this weekend, and that fuel comes from Europe. And then we’ve got Supercars in New Zealand and that fuel has come from Melbourne.
“We’re already seeing a pinch on transport for Tasmania. We’ll be packing off that fuel in the next two weeks. We have the fuel, we just have to freight the fuel.
“The next big mission is Darwin, and the next question is will Darwin be considered an essential use of lots of diesel, with recent calculations being around 60,000 litres for Supercars to do that job, if you count the tyre truck, the Supercars [series] trucks and the 13 trucks for teams.
“We’re getting to an interesting part of the story when it comes to the transporters. We’re about to do Darwin, Perth, Townsville… it’s about to get interesting.
“We’re hoping we’re about to talk about light rationing, but heavy rationing would put the microscope on what we do.
“Our first concern on the horizon is if Darwin is on.”
If restrictions on long-haul transport do come into effect, Tierney has one potential solution: “As part of the Victorian motorsport community, we are happy to open our facilities and community up and other teams can hub with us if the restrictions are on.”
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