Drayson Racing Flex-Fuel Lola-Judd Qualifies 7th at Silverstone

by Thomas Moore

11 September 2010

Drayson Racing Flex-Fuel Lola-Judd Qualifies 7th at Silverstone

TOWCESTER, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ENGLAND – Drayson Racing is again using international sportscar racing to prove the overall performance a Flex-Fuel race car can achieve. Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK) used the No.11 Drayson Racing Lola Coupé with Judd Power to qualify seventh overall for tomorrow’s Autosport 1000Km of Silverstone. In doing so, the young Briton proved third quickest among the petrol-powered cars and, as the only entry capable of running on both E10 and E85 bio-ethanol, the competitiveness of the Flex-Fuel race car. Cocker’s time of one minute, 46.259 seconds around the 5.890Km/3.65-mile, 18-turn, Silverstone F1-circuit showed Drayson Racing’s pace and highlighted the team’s potential in Sunday’s 1000Km/six hour endurance event.

Drayson Racing, a race team focused on green technology development, is the first racing organisation to enter a true Flex-Fuel vehicle in international auto racing. The same British-built car which Paul Drayson (Gloucestershire, UK) and Cocker will share here in the United Kingdom using E10 fuel, runs on second-generation, E85, bio-ethanol whilst competing in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) much of the rest of the season. Proving its Flex-Fuel capability, The Judd V10-engine used here in the Le Mans Series (LMS) and throughout the entire inaugural season of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC), of which Silverstone is the first of three rounds, is the same unit used in the ALMS. The British-designed and constructed Judd engine requires only an electronic “map” change to be fully capable to run on the various levels of the cellulosic, sustainable fuel.

Drayson Racing will be challenging for its second-overall race victory of the season in Sunday’s event. The first victory came in the ALMS-sanctioned race at Road America. Of equal importance to the Dale White (Bozeman, MT, USA)-managed race team in the LMS finale will be capturing its fourth, career Michelin® Green X® Challenge. The Michelin Green X Challenge awards the car which travels the furthest, the fastest on the smallest amount of race fuel. As a green-oriented operation, winning both the overall and environmental race is deeply tied to the team’s ethos of advancing sustainable motoring through motorsport innovation. Previous Michelin Green X Challenge victories include Japan (2009), Salt Lake City (2010) and Road America (2010).

Live timing and scoring of all sessions including the 170-lap race can be found at www.lemans-series.com. The live radio call by Radio Le Mans can be heard at www.radiolemans.com. Television coverage of Sunday’s race can be seen live in UK and Europe on Eurosport.

Quotes

Paul Drayson/Owner/Driver: “It is wonderful to be racing back at Silverstone and I’m happy with our seventh position on the grid against such world-class competition. It is going to be a fascinating race tomorrow.”

Jonny Cocker/Driver: “We made some big changes for the qualifying session. The car was improved upon but not quite to where we wanted to be. We’re slightly disappointed with the overall result but with more changes to be made overnight the car will be better for the race. I am sure we will be in the mix at the start and our main objective is to stay out of trouble and have a solid finish.”

Dale White/Team Manager: “We had very little dry-weather running before qualifying and that put us on the back foot. Jonny came out and ran a great lap despite some traction control issues we were suffering. We now have a solid starting spot and a good plan for tomorrow’s race. I am really looking forward to getting out on the track and running against the factory teams. We’d like to put in a really good result for the first Intercontinental Le Mans Cup race.”

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