Team Suzuki CN Challenge will be running the Suzuka 8 Hours with 100% sustainable fuel, and I have the details in this week’s Sustainable Motorsport Roundup. I also have news on Williams Racing partnering with sustainable sportswear pioneers Reflo, exploring the concept of petrosynthesis and its potential to revolutionize the motorsport industry and the fallout from McLaren leaving Formula E.
Sustainable Motorsport News
Speaking exclusively to Global Sustainable Sport, Honda Mobilityland, the promoter of the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, has outlined a comprehensive and metric-driven sustainability programme that has delivered net-zero operational emissions for its 2025 event. The strategy positions the Suzuka Circuit as a benchmark for the global motorsport industry, with an ambitious target of achieving full carbon neutrality by 2030, a decade ahead of many other major sporting bodies.
The Knockhill McRae Rally Challenge will once again partner with Carbon Positive Motorsport for its 2025 event, reinforcing their shared commitment to sustainable motorsport.
As part of this partnership, the full carbon emissions from all competing vehicles will be offset using Carbon Positive Motorsport’s world-class rewilding project based near Loch Ness. This initiative forms a key part of Knockhill’s wider environmental strategy and reflects both organisations’ determination to reduce motorsport’s impact on the climate while maintaining the excitement and heritage of the sport.
You can get more details here.
In the latest episode of their Women IN Sport (WINS) podcast series, Jess Runicles, Head of Sustainability at Motorsport UK, joins Georgina King, Managing Associate in Linklaters’ Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations practice, and James Marlow, Managing Associate in Linklaters’ Environment, Social and Governance practice, for a conversation around the work carried out by Motorsport UK and its environmental and social sustainability strategies, as well as the key initiatives driving gender and race equality and increasing accessibility of motorsports.
Tune in to the episode here.
Atlassian Williams Racing has welcomed sustainable sportswear pioneers Reflo to the team, in a new licensing agreement that unites two British brands with a shared passion for innovation and performance.
With a commitment to responsible design and circular solutions, Reflo’s teamwear will ensure Atlassian Williams Racing’s drivers, crew and fans are equipped with sustainable, stylish apparel that performs at the highest level.
The Badger looks at the University of Sussex Racing’s green drive with their Formula Student program. Formula Student stands apart from conventional motorsport. Organised by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), it convenes over 100 university teams each July at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, to push prototype cars through rigorous engineering, business and performance evaluations. While judges score each car based on race lap times, design innovation and cost analysis, Sussex Racing views the event as a platform to prove that environmental responsibility can coexist with competitive excellence.
“We’re racing on electricity, but we’re really racing the clock on climate change,” says Tayo, lead designer of the car’s impact attenuator and third-year engineering student. “Every component has to earn its keep – in speed, safety, and sustainability”.
The FIA – Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile is looking for an R&D Engineer Trainee to join its Technical Department and contribute to an exciting project on the integration of liquid hydrogen (LH₂) into top-level motorsport.
Interested? Apply here: https://careers.fia.com/?page=advertisement_display&id=276
Sustainable Motorsport Tech
In the video above, join Roger Atkins in a groundbreaking conversation with Paddy Lowe, exploring the concept of petrosynthesis and its potential to revolutionize the motorsport industry by providing a sustainable alternative to fossil-based petroleum. Please visit my website to get more information: https://www.electricvehiclesoutlook.c…
“This insightful discussion delves into how motorsport can adopt eco-friendly practices and technologies, reducing its environmental impact while maintaining the competitive spirit and innovation that define the sport. Subscribe for more thought-provoking content on the future of motorsport and sustainable energy solutions. To discover the art of the possible when it comes to what motorsport in the electric age might look like (as well as combine harvesters and other machines), I thought it would be useful to talk with one of the most successful and well-respected F1 engineers in the business. I was right – it was VERY useful! Paddy shares his postulation around ‘Petrosynthesis’ – and the crew and I simply listened and learned…WOWZERS!”
This fall, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus hopes to race their Zero Emission (Not just Zero CO2 as ICE Hydrogen releases NOx which is a harmful pollutant) Fuel Cell Glickenhaus Boot at The Baja 1000 with their viable swappable tank refueling solution. They think that this will lead to a viable hydrogen fuel cell Pick Up. More detils to be announced soon.
After fielding a Suzuki GSX-R1000R running on 40 per cent bio-sourced fuel in the 2024 edition of the Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race, Team Suzuki CN Challenge, a team operated by Suzuki Motor Corporation employees, will return for the 46th edition of the iconic event with an even bolder step forward: using 100 per cent sustainable fuel.
Tsuyoshi Tanaka – Executive General Manager, Motorcycle Operations Suzuki: “Last year, Team Suzuki CN Challenge completed the severe endurance racing of Suzuka 8 Hours while reducing environmental loads, and by doing so, we were able to take one significant step toward the future of internal combustion and motorsports. While overcoming the issues revealed from our previous activity, this year we will expand the use of sustainable items and make efforts for technology development toward taking on the challenge of further sustainability performance. We will challenge in this year’s Suzuka 8 Hours by going beyond the field of carbon neutrality and holding a theme of broadly reducing environmental loads.”
Spark Racing Technology debuted its hydrogen powered racing car at Extreme H, Goodwood, tackling the 1.16 mile hillclimb multiple times and impressing many. Sustainability Magazine goes inside Spark Racing Technology’s hydrogen race car, the Pioneer 25. The car only emits water vapour as it is equipped with hydrogen fuel cells and powered by green hydrogen gas.
During the Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, a conference dedicated to hydrogen and the decarbonization of racing brought together Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO and Co-President of MissionH24; Marek Nawarecki, FIA Senior Circuit Sport Director; Kazuki Nakajima, Vice President of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe; Bruno Famin, Director of Motorsport for Alpine; and Philippe Tramond, Technical Director of Michelin Motorsport. Journalists, partners, and spectators were able to attend this presentation of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA WEC’s strategy for a zero-CO2 emission competition.
Click here for a review of the event and what was discussed.
Eco News takes a look at the use of hydrogen in motorsport. “Moving in an opposite direction to battery charging, Extreme H vehicles move towards hydrogen fuel cells that are capable of power generation. During an electrochemical reaction, the stored hydrogen gas tends to produce hydrogen that gets contained in a 325-kW battery pack. The twin electric motor is then capable of delivering more or less 400kW of raw output, which means a high-speed vehicle will be seen on the racetrack.”
Following the recent news of its collaboration with BMW to integrate natural fibre composites into series production road cars, Bcomp has announced further progress in motorsport.
Porsche Motorsport and racing team Four Motors have incorporated grey-toned Bcomp components into the hood, rear wing end plates and front bumper dive planes of the Porsche GT3 Cup car.
Previously made from aluminum and carbon fibre, these parts were manufactured using Bcomp’s colored ampliTex flax fibre reinforcement fabrics
Series News
The optics of the loss of McLaren Racing’s Formula E team are not great, no matter what series officials say. Here are twi articles looking at the fallout of the decision.
- McLaren exit poses uncomfortable questions about Formula E ‘bubble’ (The Race)
- The other big loser from McLaren’s Formula E exit (The Race)
Formula E and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) are on the verge of agreeing a long-term contract extension. At the British Grand Prix, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem revealed to reporters that an extension was done and “would come up soon”, as reported by Reuters.
Formula E has announced a new partnership with Feastables, the ethical snacking company founded by the world’s number one social media creator, MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson). At the heart of the collaboration is a set of shared sustainability values. Feastables is committed to ethical sourcing, clean ingredients and recyclable packaging for all its products, aligning with Formula E’s aspirations to accelerate change using the spectacle of sport.
Progress is the prize for Veloce Racing. Whether it’s the mixed gender driving format, the ‘race without trace’ sustainability, or the electric off-road competition, the #innovation in Extreme E has served to consistently break the boundaries in motorsport and beyond. Eon Energy explains how Extreme E and Veloce’s equality drive delivers results on track.
Getting to the Track Sustainably
- Archer Aviation Launches Electric Aircraft Flight Trials in Abu Dhabi (Business Jet Traveler)
- JetZero Takes Flight in North Carolina with $4.7B Factory and Hydrogen-Ready Jet Ambitions (HYSKY)
- Dragonfly Makes Aviation History: First-Ever Hydrogen Refuel on Airport Tarmac Powers New Flight Era (HYSKY)
- 4Air’s SAF Registry Hits Major Milestone (AIN)
- British Airways signs up new sustainable aviation fuel supplier (Business Traveler)
- Made in Scotland: developing a sustainable fuel for ships, planes and racing cars (Eon Energy)
- Bombardier Marks Progress on Sustainability Goals (AIN)
- Study: Private Jets Outpaced Heathrow Emissions in 2023 (AIN)
- Shipping is flying the flag for multilateral climate action: why aren’t we celebrating yet? (T&E)
- Ocean protection means including shipping in countries’ Paris climate targets (T&E)
- Which fuels should the EU back for shipping? (T&E)
- UK Backs ZeroAvia to Fly the First Liquid Hydrogen Testbed in Commercial Aircraft (HYSKY)
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
