The Sexy Green Car Show is to host ‘the world's cleanest racing car.’
D1 Oils plc, a leading UK biodiesel producer, has been responsible for both sponsoring and helping to develop the 210mph biodiesel-fuelled D1 Lola B2K Le Mans contender, which is attracting huge visitor interest.
The show, held at The Eden Project, Cornwall, runs from now until April 15.
The striking yellow and blue sports racer is the first exhibit to greet visitors to the show and it has captured the imagination of public, media and trade visitor alike. There are many good reasons for this, as D1's Chief Executive Officer, Elliott Mannis explains:
"The D1 Lola is truly a ground-breaking race car," he says. "The five-litre, ten cylinder machine has been designed to run at the Le Mans 24 Hour race using biodiesel, which we refine from the jatropha plant which grows in developing countries. The technology involved is leading us towards an ultra-low carbon footprint racer and this makes the whole project unique in top-level motorsport.
The programme will demonstrate the performance, fuel efficiency and emissions produced by different biodiesel blends under the most intense conditions possible, on the race track.
"Reaction to the car has been very positive from the outset and it demonstrates that green motoring has as much of a place in the glamorous world of international motor racing, as it does for the everyday motorist."
The opening of the Sexy Green Car Show also coincided with the unveiling of the
Eden Project's latest plantation plot inside the Rainforest Biome, which showcases jatropha - a non-food, oilseed bearing tree - and its advantages as a source of biofuel.
The D1 Lola programme for the remainder of 2007 will combine ongoing development of the car with appearances at a number of key public and trade events. It is anticipated that the car will compete in a Le Mans Series event in America towards the end of the year as part of its run-up to the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2008, when D1 expects to refine biodiesel from its first full crops of jatropha.