Supercars’ control fuel distributor, RaceFuels, has set off for Mount Panorama with the 70,000-litre haul needed to get through the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The Melbourne-based operation supplies the BP Ultimate E85 blend which fuels the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and Dunlop Super2 Series, as well as the fuel used by support categories.
While an ordinary Bathurst 1000 would represent a challenge in itself, RaceFuels has encountered similar difficulties caused by internal border closures that competitors have also had to navigate.
That challenge includes loading over 45,000 litres of E85, or over 1800 litres per entry, for the 25 cars running in the Great Race to get through the four-day meeting.
Around half of that is set to be consumed in the 161-lap race itself, with a burn of about 5.5L/lap.
“For RaceFuels, working with BP to supply the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 is the ultimate challenge to provide both quality and quantity,” said RaceFuels Director, Mark Tierney.
“RaceFuels services over 40 events a year, but there’s only one Bathurst 1000. It’s the one event that everyone talks about. We think about this all year and we plan 12 months in advance to manage the volumes of fuel that is required.
“It has been a challenging season with COVID-19, and the Bathurst 1000 presents its own list of challenges, being a regional New South Wales event while we are Melbourne based.
“We have a COVID Safe plan, we have a freight and a staff management operation that is compliant, and we’re very keen to get to the circuit.
“We’ve packed up 70,000 litres of E85 racing fuel. 28,000 litres of that is in bulk, with the rest in 200 litre drums that will be hand delivered to the teams.
“Each car will need to have at least 800 litres to get each car through practice and qualifying, with the Bathurst 1000 requiring over 800 litres per car to get to the finish.
“We also have all of the support categories to supply to, so it quickly becomes a busy few days.”
The 2020 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 begins this Thursday, with the Supercars Championship field first on-track for Practice 1 from 09:30 local time/AEDT.
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