IRL tests ethanol blend; Dana joins Rahal Letterman Racing
February 1, 2006
The Indy Racing League (IRL) is testing out its new fuel for the 2006 season—a 10 percent blend of ethanol with methanol. Honda Performance Development, which will be the sole provider of motors for this year's IndyCar Series season, tested the fuel Dec. 7 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Miami, Fla.
Team Ethanol driver Paul Dana told EPM that league officials reported no problems and very little performance change from the traditional 100 percent methanol fuel the series has used since the 1960s. In March 2005, the IRL announced it had partnered with the ethanol industry to become the fuel supplier beginning with the 2006 season. Teams will use 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in IndyCar Series cars in 2007.
Dana is looking at a change himself. On January 23, Rahal Letterman Racing (as in, David Letterman of Late Show) announced a multi-year deal with Team Ethanol, putting Dana behind the wheel of a #17 Honda/Panoz. He said the move from Hemelgarn Racing will provide the opportunity to learn from experienced teammates.
Dana will still be considered a rookie this season, despite having raced three times in 2005. He injured his back in a mid-May crash that forced him to wear a full back brace until mid-August. Thanks to an extensive training program, Dana now says he is in the strongest condition of his life. In January, he will begin testing at Phoenix International Raceway near Phoenix, Ariz.
This season, IndyCar will provide Honda motors to each team randomly. Essentially a team will show up to the track, get its motor, bolt it into the car and race, Dana said. The switch should ultimately go unnoticed by race teams. "It's seamless," Dana said. "It's big for ethanol but not for the league, which is the way they wanted it."
During the season, Honda will begin dynamometer testing 100 percent ethanol. Dana expects on-track testing to begin in August or September.
Dana was recently featured in two documentaries about global warming. Fox News' "The Heat is On: The Case of Global Warming," and the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) "Gas Muzzlers—America's Battle Over Global Warming," profiled the IndyCar Series as part of the solution to global warming because of its decision to switch to ethanol. The BBC program was broadcast to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide and into 268 million households.
"It's nice to go racing with ethanol, but leveraging that kind of exposure is the reason you do it," Dana said. He said HBO will be releasing a similar documentary coinciding with Earth Day on March 20.
-Staff Report
Team Ethanol driver Paul Dana told EPM that league officials reported no problems and very little performance change from the traditional 100 percent methanol fuel the series has used since the 1960s. In March 2005, the IRL announced it had partnered with the ethanol industry to become the fuel supplier beginning with the 2006 season. Teams will use 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in IndyCar Series cars in 2007.
Dana is looking at a change himself. On January 23, Rahal Letterman Racing (as in, David Letterman of Late Show) announced a multi-year deal with Team Ethanol, putting Dana behind the wheel of a #17 Honda/Panoz. He said the move from Hemelgarn Racing will provide the opportunity to learn from experienced teammates.
Dana will still be considered a rookie this season, despite having raced three times in 2005. He injured his back in a mid-May crash that forced him to wear a full back brace until mid-August. Thanks to an extensive training program, Dana now says he is in the strongest condition of his life. In January, he will begin testing at Phoenix International Raceway near Phoenix, Ariz.
This season, IndyCar will provide Honda motors to each team randomly. Essentially a team will show up to the track, get its motor, bolt it into the car and race, Dana said. The switch should ultimately go unnoticed by race teams. "It's seamless," Dana said. "It's big for ethanol but not for the league, which is the way they wanted it."
During the season, Honda will begin dynamometer testing 100 percent ethanol. Dana expects on-track testing to begin in August or September.
Dana was recently featured in two documentaries about global warming. Fox News' "The Heat is On: The Case of Global Warming," and the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) "Gas Muzzlers—America's Battle Over Global Warming," profiled the IndyCar Series as part of the solution to global warming because of its decision to switch to ethanol. The BBC program was broadcast to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide and into 268 million households.
"It's nice to go racing with ethanol, but leveraging that kind of exposure is the reason you do it," Dana said. He said HBO will be releasing a similar documentary coinciding with Earth Day on March 20.
-Staff Report
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