Media Release

Tuesday 20 February 2007

Hybrid Vehicles to Race in 2008 Rally Championship

Hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles developed by teams of engineering students at New Zealand universities will be racing in the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2008. They will also run as a support class in the WRC Propecia Rally of New Zealand the same year.

The Tertiary Hybrid Open Rally Challenge (TORC) was established in 2004 and now has the support of both AUT and Unitech, two of the country’s leading applied technology universities. Other institutions with engineering faculties are also being encouraged to join TORC.

Competition CEO Kevin Dwyer said the aim was to promote use of energy efficient, eco friendly vehicles while providing an outlet and practical testing ground for existing and future research into alternative fuels and other energy sources.

“MotorSport New Zealand has supported TORC and developed supplementary technical regulations to cover the cars, which will run in the two wheel drive Kiwi 2 class. The Sustainable Business Network has also swung in behind the organisation.

“The engineering teams must use an existing two wheel drive shell but must design and develop hybrid electric power trains. In all other respects the cars will be conventional rally cars with a full range of safety equipment.

“It’s a very practical way to get young engineers to think about future alternatives and to do so in a competitive environment,” he said. “It will also help the public appreciate that it is still possible to enjoy motorsport in an eco-friendly way.”

In November a hybrid electric vehicle won the under 1,000 cc class in the UK 2006 Formula 1000 rally championships at its first attempt. That car was developed to run on E85 bio-ethanol fuel and had a CVT transmission.

ENDS