Dyson Racing Running on Butanol Blend in ALMS

26 September 2009

The #16 BP car of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith from Dyson Racing will be running an advanced biofuel developed by BP combining gasoline, ethanol and biobutanol during the in the 12^th annual Petit Le Mans ten-hour endurance race at Road Atlanta, today.

Dyson #16. Click to enlarge.

Being an experimental exercise limited to Dyson Racing, the #16 car, a 2.0-liter turbocharged MZR-R-powered Lola coupe, will not run for points during the race and will start from the back of the grid.

We are grateful to the ALMS, the ACO, and IMSA to allow us to do essentially a public test of biobutanol. It is exciting to be at the forefront of the next generation of alternative and bio fuels. With biobutanol, you have a cleaner burning, more powerful, better fuel mileage product that we will race here and at Mazda Raceway, and evaluate as one of the possible fuels for the series in 2010.

—John Doonan, Manager Motorsports Team Development for Mazda

The Mazda AER (Advanced Engine Research) MZR-R is a 2.0 liter, four cylinder, in-line turbocharged engine. Designed from a clean sheet of paper, it is designed to make in excess of 500 hp (373 kW), and on a per cylinder basis, more than an F1 engine. It is all aluminum construction and is mounted as a semi-stressed member of the chassis with A-frames.

The engine is the smallest, lightest and most compact in LMP racing today and there are no external belt drives or ancillaries. The camshafts, water pump and oil pump are internally driven by gears.

The ALMS has always been about relevance and innovation. Mazda and BP have a commitment to using motorsports to test and prove clean technologies. It is fascinating to be on the cutting edge of technology that will end up on the highway one day. We are proud to be part of this partnership because we are using motor racing to make a difference in the world.

—Chris Dyson