24 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY may 11-17, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.comwww.montereycountyweekly.com attractive because water vapor is its only emission—but the technology to deliver it is still young. “It’s interesting to look into the crystal ball,” says John Doonan, president of IMSA. “If I was able to predict, there will be different fuel options.” For the moment, he adds, “I think hybrid is a tremendous solution.” Much of the immediate excitement for the future of racing stems from the new generation of hybrid power units combining internal combustion and electric power as an initial step toward sustainability goals. IMSA’s hybrid GTP class debuted at this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona with great success. IndyCar will introduce hybrid power for 2024. The technology goes beyond switching between the two components. In the GTP cars, an electric motor-generator unit harvests energy created by the rear axle—not in itself an extraordinary process; Formula 1 brought out its first iteration of power regeneration units with its Kinetic Energy Recovery System in 2009 and such systems currently exist on passenger EVs. But IMSA caps GTP horsepower at around 670, meaning when the MTU contributes its 50 or so horses to the drivetrain, the internal combustion engine dials back by the same amount, cutting fuel consumption while maintaining power. The racing between the hybrid cars has been riveting. When the checkered flag waved at Daytona after 24 hours, only five seconds separated the top two finishers, and the fourth-place car crossed the line just 12 seconds back. Sims, teaming with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken, won the 12 Hours of Sebring by a narrow 2.9 seconds. And in the first sprint race of the season, at Long Beach, the Porsche of Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet edged the BMW driven by Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly by less than a second. “The GTP cars—it’s fascinating being on track with them,” observes driver Thomas Merrill of Salinas, who won Daytona in the LMP3 class. “They have good straight-line speed, but in the middle of a corner they are no faster than a GT car.” The weight added by the hybrid unit and its components accounts for the compromise. Yet from the start, lap times were comparable to GTP’s predecessor class. “We were a little surprised,” admits Kelvin Fu, vice president of Honda Performance Development. “The more we use the cars, the more we understand. The goal is technological development that will roll into the street car.” Almost from the beginning, motorsports became a testing and proving ground for advancements for passenger vehicles. Seatbelts and rearview mirrors, hydraulic disc brakes, traction control, aerodynamic efficiency and better tires are among the many racing innovations that later became the norm in commercial cars. GTP is an abbreviation of Grand Touring Prototype. In automotive terms, Grand Touring is essentially a sports car, designed for both performance and distance. As the word prototype suggests, these are vehicles meant to shape the future. But there is more implied in the GTP stamp. During the 1980s and early ’90s, the original GTP class was a collaboration between the race series and automobile manufacturers that produced great racing on track, as well as now-familiar technologies such as antilock braking. “In the old days, racing was the test arena,” Rahal recalls. “But with computerization and simulators, much of the development started happening in that world.” The new iteration of GTP has spurred a collaborative effort. Porsche, Cadillac, Acura and BMW committed to the class, sculpting high-tech, aerodynamic beasts. Components from Bosch, Williams and Xtrac are cutting edge. The Michelin tires contain materials that are less environmentally costly. The fuel blend offers a 60-percent reduction in carbon emissions. “Manufacturers—they are our voice to tell what’s needed,” Doonan explains. “That’s how you get to hybrid, to 80-percent sustainable fuel, to a double-stint tire.” By requiring teams to run the same tires for two stints—a stint being the 40 to 50 minutes on track before refueling is necessary—IMSA cars chewed up one-third fewer sets of rubber at this year’s Daytona 24-hour race. But it’s the collaborative flurry between race teams and manufacturers that has engineers excited. “We have more influence than we did 10 years ago,” says Fu, whose team is now preparing IndyCar hybrid engines. Innovation in race technology has perhaps never been more relevant or important to advances in passenger vehicles, and Fu notes that their work in the performance department is drawing interest from other manufacturers. “That’s what racing should be,” he adds. “We can be riskier in terms of what we try.” With so much underway and with new, more sustainable technologies proving both reliable and successful on track, those in the racing industry— drivers, engineers, executives—see possibilities in the sport’s image problem. “That’s why we are so keen on telling the story—because we’re visible,” Doonan says. “We can tell a competitive, entertaining story, but also be a friend of the environment.” To fully understand the impact of any activity on the environment, it is necessary to know not only the pollutants created directly, but also those from sources associated with the activity—fans traveling to a race, for Race Car emissions 0.7% event operations 7.3% facilities and factories 19.3% business travel 27.7% logistics 45.0% Carbon Footprint A glimpse at racing’s impact. Formula 1 conducted a study of its emissions during the 2018 season. Logistics—including transportation to and from the track—was responsible for the largest percentage. Source - Formula 1 A pit stop during the 12 Hours of Sebring. Race sanctioning bodies like IMSA (above) and IndyCar are using biofuels and tires made with more environmentally friendly materials. Richard Dole In studies on the carbon footprint of racing, it has been found that transportation to and from events by both teams and fans account for most of the emissions. Race teams are introducing biodiesel fuel and, in some cases, electric trucks for transport. Michael L. Levitt
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