Conversation with Racing Legend Bobby Rahal at Detroit Grand Prix

June 25, 2013

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by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) While attending the Detroit Grand Prix races earlier this month, we had the opportunity to spend some time with racing legend Bobby Rahal. Bobby is the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, a three-time IndyCar series Champion, and a winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Daytona endurance sports car races. Not bad for a history major! (Denison University 1975)

Along with late-night television mainstay David Letterman, Rahal now owns an IndyCar team that has won the Indy 500 and an American Le Mans Series race team that won the premier GT series in 2010 and 2011.

All of their race cars, the Honda powered IndyCars and the BMW Z4 sports cars, race on E85.

In addition to all of his motorsports activities, Rahal also owns a number of dealerships which means he hears from American automotive consumers on a daily basis. With this combination of racing, race team ownership, and business success Bobby Rahal always brings a unique and thoughtful perspective to a conversation.

When Advanced Biofuels USA started in 2008 one of the first events we covered was a conference on the future of motorsports. It took place in conjunction with the Detroit GP on Belle Isle. Bobby Rahal spoke at that conference on the necessity for car racing to be relevant to the public for it to succeed. Being back on Belle Isle for the Detroit GP this year we thought it would be a great chance to catch up with Rahal and hear where he thinks automotive technology, racing, and renewable fuels should be going in the future.

Here are some highlights from our conversation. (We’ve tried to present Bobby Rahal’s thoughts in his own words. Any errors are ours.)

Biggest and Most Positive Automotive Change Since 2008?

I think the biggest improvement we’ve seen is how conventional engines have become more and more efficient.

Technology for conventional combustion engines has become really sophisticated and has not found the real limit.

Internal combustion engines are not near the end of their development.

Ethanol Now and in 2008?

It’s a little different now.

[In 2008] US government was really pushing ethanol with incentives to farmers. I think some incentives still exist but without question a lot of the incentives have been cut back.

[There was] probably a little bit of an overreaction that ethanol would be the silver bullet.

Ethanol can still play a role in hybrids. More efficient combustion engines will certainly still [have the] ability to use E10 or E85 or whatever the case may be.

We started using E85 in racing a couple of years ago because there is actually more power.

Battery Electrics

In the past five, six or seven years, it’s clear that battery powered cars have real limitations.

If you look at all the issues with batteries, I think what was once considered an automatic, there’s lots of questions about that.

Right now buying a Volt, you’re just making a political statement. You’re not making a statement on practicality or anything else, unless you don’t go anywhere.

Hybrids

Hybrids, have a lot of value, but the cost differential is such that you can burn a lot of fuel [without reaching the price differential]. From a purely financial point of view at this stage of the game it doesn’t pay.

Hybrid technology is going to get better. Hybrids are still more of an immediate solution than anything else [other than improved combustion engine technology].

What Will It Take to Maximize Vehicle Efficiency?

Not one silver bullet is going to solve the issues out there, a combination of a lot of different things will be needed. [Rahal included engine developments, turbocharging, hybrid technology, aerodynamics, friction reduction, better fuels and lubricants.]

Why is Racing Important to the Automotive Industry?

A couple of different roles. One, the technology transfer.

One of the biggest reasons Honda uses racing is to really educate their engineers. To get them to think in the timeliness of racing, the immediacy of it. To get them to think of things in little more unconventional ways. [When] they rotate back to design engines for street cars I think that racing spirit never leaves them.

Many of them [other car companies] have embraced it to a certain degree. You see Chevy, Audi, BMW, may be a little more overt but Honda always has led the pack, so to speak. Racing is an educational tool for their people and to create the racing spirit within the company.

The IndyCar Fan Base is Declining and Getting Older. How Can IndyCar Attract Younger Fans?

We really need to embrace STEM [Science Technology Engineering and Math Education] as a series.

The whole idea is introducing young kids to what can math and science really can do. It’s not just 2+2. It’s creating things, its cutting edge. It’s really out there on the frontier. I think racing presents that opportunity really well.

We have to embrace young people, really get them excited about what racing is all about, especially through STEM.

We have to start when kids are 5 or 6, not when they’re 18 and their interests are kinda set. [Have to get them interested] when they’re considering what choices they want to make for their futures.

[For college students] We need to embrace Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers racing series) more.

We’ve met with the SAE. My engineering director is a Cornell grad. He was involved with Formula SAE. Really don’t know why manufacturers don’t fund it better, it’s a no brainer.

What Are the Challenges to Bringing Young People Into Racing?

What is more imaginative than computers? Every day life is pretty boring, compared to that.

The quality of the [computer] presentations. It’s like real life. How do you compete against that? It’s tough.

Can the Challenge of Converting IndyCar from an “Every Car is Alike” Series to One With Differentiation Be Met?

The car [current Indy specification car the DW12] produces great racing, but could have been a much nicer car.

Sameness is antithetical to what Indy car was all about.

IndyCar needs to welcome differentiation more. I think it’s going to with the aero kits. The big challenge is to control the cost. The more free you are, the more expensive. It’s that simple.

Any Personal Challenges Left in Racing?

One of my biggest disappointments is not being able to go to Le Mans the past 3 or 4 years even though we were invited because of our ALMS championships. But we haven’t been able to do so because it’s not BMW North America’s thing. But I love sports car racing and I do want to go to Le Mans with a team one of these days.

What’s The Major Barrier to Finding Commons Solutions in Racing?

Kinda the problem is that everybody has their own pet solution. No one wants to promote any other solution.

There are pet projects everywhere.

The Secret of What Racing Means?

Racing is all about mystery to a large degree.