Tires made partially from orange peels and motor oil made from animal fat are part of the green future for sports car racing in America.
On Thursday at Sebring International Raceway, Yokohama tires introduced its ADVAN ENV-R tires, which combine orange oil made from discarded peels with natural rubber to form a new compound called Super Nano-Power Rubber. The tires will be used on Porsche 911 race cars in the Patron GT32 Challenge, a series sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association.
IMSA also sanctions the American Le Mans Series, which likes to call itself the most environmentally friendly racing series in the world.
Another step in that direction also came Thursday at Sebring with the announcement that ALMS has signed a two-year agreement with Green Earth Technologies to make its official motor oil G-Oil, a green motor oil made mostly from American-grown beef tallow.
G-Oil only recently certified for use in motor vehicles, will initially be used only in ALMS trucks and official vehicles. ALMS officials said they expect several teams to begin using the new oil in their race cars when the new product becomes readily available.
“Providing support to the American Le Mans Series through the Michelin Green X Challenge is a natural fit for us and together with our partners, we can help encourage teams and manufacturers to demonstrate a cleaner, more fuel-efficient way to race, while maintaining performance and the spirit of competition,” Michelin spokesman Scott Clark said.
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