New Zealand Adopts 85% Bioethanol Blend as Racing Fuel

The Toyota Racing Series (TRS) is a car racing event independently organized by Motorsport New Zealand, with technical support and backing by Toyota New Zealand Limited. Recently, Motorsport New Zealand allowed the adoption of “E85” (a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% of 95 octane petrol) as racing fuel. It is said to be a world's first. Other racing series have also begun to explore the potential of biofuels for motorsport, but none so far have been said to commit to E85, at least until after 2009. According to the New Zealand News Herald, “The move [by Motorsport New Zealand] follows months of laboratory and dynamometer testing, engine performance tuning and a comprehensive re-development of the TRS cars with new fuel system components to enable the cars to use a biofuel”. The Biofuels Digest website also reports that under racing conditions, officials have noted that “the E85 blends are showing reduced emissions, increased power and torque over conventional fuels”. Although the biofuel initiative is specific to motorsport, it offers a good test environment to see how production cars (running on E85 biofuels) would perform under extreme conditions.

Related information on the Toyota Racing Series: http://www.toyotaracing.co.nz/Default.aspx?pageid=11