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Corvette Goes Green

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Officials from Corvette Racing, EPIC and ALMS unveil the new Corvette E85, which runs on the ethanol fuel, during day two of the ALMS Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway on Tuesday. The new car will debut at the Twelve Hours of Sebring race.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: January 30, 2008

SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY — "Being green doesn't have to mean being boring," proclaimed Panoz Motorsports president and CEO Scott Atherton at a morning press conference during the American Le Mans Series Winter Test on Tuesday.

Those words echoed as the mighty Corvette Racing team — which won its seventh consecutive GT1 manufacturers and team championships in 2007 — unveiled the Corvette Compuware E85 to a conglomerate of worldwide media.

"We figure that now is the time for this kind of transition," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Feehan. "Somebody has to take this kind of leap, and at Corvette, I've never been afraid of taking this kind of risk.

"If you look at the history of Corvette, you'll see that we've always been the platform to introduce products to the consumers."

The Corvette E85, which will make its debut at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh From Florida in March, will be using cellulosic E85 racing ethanol; a fuel produced by waste wood and is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

Atherton and ALMS have been at the forefront of the development of alternative fuels for use on the series and recently announced collaboration with SAE International, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to define the definition of green racing.

"The American Le Mans Series was recently recognized [by those organizations] as the only motorsports entity to meet the criteria for green racing," Atherton said. "Introducing E85 racing ethanol to our series with one of the most noted championship teams does nothing but reinforce our commitment to be the global leader in green racing."

When asking Feehan about the question of fuel performance in a race setting and the hurdles in making this bold move, he got the shrug of shoulders from his engineers, which basically gave the green light to move forward.

"There wasn't any question of power or performance," Feehan said. "But we'll be testing more in the coming weeks to tweak the car for the 12 Hours. That is when we'll get a better gauge on performance."

The hope from Corvette and ALMS, as well as the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC), is that this further along the development and acceptance of alternative fuels for the everyday driver.

"American's want cleaner fuels and motorsports is the ultimate proving ground for this new technology," EPIC senior director of marketing Reece Nanfito said. "Consumers want more choices at the pump, and although challenges remain, cellulosic ethanol is no longer a dream, but a reality."

EXTRA LAPS: The 10 greatest moments in American Le Mans series history were announced on Tuesday, with the Risi Competizione's Jaime Melo beating Flying Lizard's Jorg Bergmeister to the checkered flag by 0.202 seconds at the 2007 Twelve Hours of Sebring for the GT2 victory in one of the most exciting finishes in ALMS history. To view the entire list, visit www.americanlemans.com.

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