Advanced BioFuels USA

Drayson Racing swept every major accolade for this weekend’s American Le Mans Series event at Road America. From being quickest in every practice, earning the pole position in resounding style, posting the quickest race lap, achieving its second Michelin® Green X® Challenge win and a dramatic last lap pass for the team’s first-ever Le Mans Prototype (LMP), overall race victory, the weekend was clearly a dominating performance for drivers Paul Drayson (Gloucestershire, UK) and Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK). It was the first overall triumph for the No.8 Drayson Racing Lola Coupé with Judd Power in international sports car racing, the first for the United Kingdom-based team and for drivers Drayson and Cocker.

 That the 4.048-mile/6.51Km Road America facility is a favourite of the drivers was shown from the start today. Paul Drayson took the green flag from the pole position and quickly settled into the perfect rhythm to match the pre-race strategy set by team manager Dale White (Bozeman, MT, USA). At one hour, 19-minutes into the two-hour, 45-minute race Drayson pitted a second time – the first for second-generation, cellulosic E85 bio-ethanol fuel only – and relinquished the driving duties to Cocker. Running fourth, 12-seconds behind the leader, with a fresh set of Michelin tyres and a full fuel load, Cocker set out to capture the team’s inaugural victory.

 With 51 minutes remaining in the race, Cocker, the youngest-ever British GT Champion, overtook the first two positions on a remarkable re-start entering Turn-1. Knowing that the No.8 must stop for a “splash” of fuel at the end of the event, he began to put as much room between himself and his pursuers as possible. Within three laps he set the race’s fastest lap and repeated the performance again and again eventually commanding the top of the quickest race lap chart with a fastest time of the day (1:52.420) nearly two seconds quicker than his nearest competitor.

 A stop to get enough bio-ethanol to complete the race with approximately 20 minutes remaining until the chequered flag would drop Drayson Racing back to fourth overall. Back on track and on the charge, Cocker overtook third position. However, whilst attempting to overtake second, fell back to fourth again when he went wide in the track’s “Carousel” turn. Never a defeatist, he again retook third and second-place in the waning moments of the event. With the leading No.6 Cytosport Porsche within clear view he became even more intent. Taking the white flag Cocker trailed by what seemed an almost insurmountable distance.

 Turn-by-turn, the British Racing Green coupé closed on the white Porsche. As Klaus Graf, driving the lead prototype, came into the final set of turns, he caught traffic and was delayed. Cocker pounced, taking the lead on the exit of the penultimate turn and pulled away going up the hill to the chequered flag capturing the team’s first victory by 1.051 seconds.

With the victory, the team, which led a total of 17 laps, was also able to capture its third Michelin Green X Challenge trophy for the competitor who travels the furthest, the fastest, on the least amount of fuel. The environmentally conscious race team relished the dual-victory. The two previous Michelin Green X Challenge trophies adorning Drayson Racing headquarters are from the inaugural event of the Asian Le Mans Series in Okayama, Japan, November 2009 and at the ALMS’ Salt Lake City race in July. To round out the sweep, on Saturday, the No.8 had earned its second, consecutive ALMS pole position with a time 1.3 seconds faster than second on the grid.  READ MORE  and MORE