Supercars has confirmed a greener, new fuel blend for the start of the Gen3 era.
The new BP E75 Racing Fuel is said to be lower carbon on a ‘Well-to-Wheel’ basis than the previous fuel specification, while Supercars has also announced a multi-year extension to its fuel supply contract with BP.
“bp E75 Racing Fuel is a new and exclusive, lower carbon race fuel*, comprised of more than 80 percent second generation fuel components – including a unique, advanced bio gasoline – that are sourced from renewable feedstocks, and blended with our existing premium bp Ultimate 98 Unleaded gasoline,” said BP’s Leigh Taylor.
“bp E75 Racing Fuel has also been specially formulated to help extend the range of the race cars compared to last season’s fuel, which means burning fewer litres of fuel for the same race.
“Supercars, GM and Ford have undertaken an extensive engine performance, durability and range testing program over the past 18 months in Australia and the United States.
“We wanted to ensure bp E75 Racing Fuel met the rigorous quality and performance standards that bp applies to all its products and that’s why we have every confidence we have developed a fuel that performs in the most challenging environment available.
“bp is committed to developing the fuels of the future that meet the needs of our customers as part of our ambition to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner and to help the world get to net zero.”
Supercars CEO Shane Howard said, “Every race car on the Supercars grid from the start of the 2023 season will utilise the new bp E75 Racing Fuel – which is an exciting step forward for the Championship.
“Supercars has always been committed to being at the forefront of innovation and sustainability, and this transition to a lower carbon fuel product is the next step in our journey towards a more sustainable future.
“This change to a lower carbon fuel product represents a major milestone for Supercars and our fans.
“We’re excited to be leading the way in sustainable racing and look forward to the positive impact this will have for our sport.”
Today is the first time teams have run on E75, having used E85 so far this year.
However, the 5.4-litre Ford and 5.7-litre Chevrolet engines were both developed with E75, and mapped such that they were capable of running E85 also.
Testing continues this morning at Sydney Motorsport Park, where Andre Heimgartner is now fastest on a 1:33.3653s in the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro.
The Brad Jones Racing driver and Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Broc Feeney are among those to have switched to slicks now, with the latter second-quickest on a 1:35.0327s in the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro.
* According to Supercars: New bp E75 Racing Fuel has a lower Well-to-Wheel carbon intensity compared to the fuel produced and supplied by bp for last season’s Repco Supercars Championship.