The Dunlop Super2 Series will now adopt E75 fuel at the beginning of 2024, Supercars has announced.
The category has thus confirmed that E85 will continue to fuel the second tier (as well as the Super3 class) for the remainder of the 2023 season.
As revealed by Speedcafe, there had been plans to make a mid-season changeover, leading to a backlash from competitors due to concerns about installation of an upgraded fire suppression system, as well as the possible need for engine re-tuning and other work items.
Supercars has advised as part of its announcement that, “An updated fire suppression system and the relocation of the oil catch can vent to the rear of the car will be mandatory from 2024.”
Both of those changes will bring the Car of the Future (including Gen2) and Project Blueprint-specification vehicles which compete in Super2/Super3 into line with the Gen3 Supercars which race in the top tier, the catch can change having been implemented after fires at Albert Park.
Super2 is now also in line with the Repco Supercars Championship in so much that it has run on BP E75 Racing Fuel since the Gen3 era began at the start of the current season.
That E75 blend is hailed for being better for the environment.
Specifically, it is claimed to be lower carbon (well-to-wheel carbon intensity compared to the existing E85 blend), containing more than 80 percent of second-generation fuel components sourced from renewable feedstocks.
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Supercars CEO Shane Howard said, “The Dunlop Series, which in 2023 has one of its largest fields ever, will continue to use bp’s E85 fuel for the remainder of this season before transitioning to the bp E75 Racing Fuel in 2024.
“The confirmed timeline of the introduction of bp E75 Racing Fuel to the Dunlop Series confirms that other technical changes required in the Car of the Future Supercar engines that suit the new blend will not be required until the start of 2024.
“This confirmation ensures teams will have time to make the required alterations and test the new fuel product in their Car of the Future Supercars prior to the 2024 Series.”
That decision is likely to be welcomed by competitors, most of whom are understood to have been willing to make the changeover in the off-season when they would have more time to do so.
The 2023 Super2 season resumes at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on September 15-17, where Anderson Motorsport’s Zak Best will arrive with a 66-point lead over Eggleston Motorsport’s Kai Allen, while just three points separate Super3 leaders Jobe Stewart and Cameron McLeod.