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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GREEN RACING SHOWCASED IN ST. PETERSBURG

American Le Mans Series and IndyCar Series Show Ethanol Benefits

St. Petersburg, Fla. (April 4, 2008) –  St. Petersburg, Florida will be the site of the greenest racing event in history April 5-6 when both the IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series will compete on the streets in the Honda Grand Prix and Acura Sports Car Challenge.  This is the second year that the IndyCar Series is racing on 100 percent ethanol and the first year the American Le Mans Series is offering cellulosic E85 racing ethanol to its teams.

Doug Robinson, executive director of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), which is the sanctioning body of the American Le Mans Series, says allowing the use of 85 percent cellulosic ethanol in that racing venue is part of their “green racing” platform that helps test alternative fuels and create public awareness.

“In rolling out that green racing strategy, the first step was to look at the renewable fuels and the greenhouse gas emissions,” Robinson said.  “Also the depletion of oil that ultimately means that there’s a cap to the amount of gasoline and diesel fuel that’s available unless you can come up with some alternative sources.”

As a result, Robinson says, they set into motion a plan to develop a high performance, high octane, gasoline-based racing fuel as a baseline and allow alternative fuels into the series.

“Our base fuel has ten percent ethanol, much like many of the pumps that you buy fuel for your road car,” he said.  “Then this year we started with an E85 fuel and we aligned ourselves with the first company to be producing second-generation, cellulosic ethanol made from wood waste from the Black Hills forest.”

That company is KL Process Design Group of South Dakota, which has been contracted by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, the leader in bringing "green" fuels to motorsports, to provide cellulosic E85 racing fuel (E85R) for Corvette Racing.   

The Corvette team will make its debut run on E85R this weekend and GM Racing program manager Doug Fehan says they are very excited about it.

 “Corvette has always tried to position itself as a leader in GM and within the racing community and this was a chance for Corvette again to demonstrate that leadership,” said Fehan.

Corvette Racing team driver Johnny O’Connell says that from a power and performance standpoint, the E85R is virtually identical to regular gasoline, but the difference to him is the environmental benefits.

“We all want to be as green as we possibly can and recognize that we do need to change things to keep racing in our culture as we go forward,” said O’Connell.

The driver of the number 17 Team Ethanol Indy Car Ryan Hunter-Reay is a big believer in ethanol and using it in racing to prove performance and environmental benefits.

“Racing is the forefront of what goes on in the automotive market,” Hunter-Reay said.  “So, it fits for racing to be going in this direction.”

Hunter-Reay also appreciates the fact that ethanol is a domestic fuel.

“It’s American to its roots, it creates American jobs and helps wean us from foreign oil,” he said.  “I’m an American driver, patriotic as can be, so it’s a great pairing.”

Hunter-Reay says part of his job as the Team Ethanol Indy Car driver is to answer questions about ethanol and he is happy to work to clear up some of the misinformation about the fuel.  

Biofuels have been criticized recently on a number of fronts, especially when it comes to the issue of food versus fuel.  John Urbanchuk, an economist with LECG, LLC, who has studied the economics of retail food prices, says higher gasoline prices have a greater impact than increased use of corn for ethanol.

“When you’re looking at contributions to increased food prices, you find that energy prices play a much more significant role than any one food ingredient such as corn because energy is involved in every aspect of the production chain,” said Urbanchuk.  “The work that we did last year found that the increase in energy prices has roughly twice the impact of the equivalent increase in corn prices alone.”

Urbanchuk also addressed land use criticism and the recent cover story in a major news magazine blaming ethanol production in the United States for the destruction of rain forests in Brazil.

“Keep in mind that Brazil produces ethanol for its own market, roughly 30-35 percent of their fuel contains ethanol, and they produce it for export,” he said.  “Ethanol and biofuels are in fact a global phenomenon.”

This weekend’s American Le Mans Series and IndyCar Series races highlighting ethanol will be broadcast globally.  ABC will televise the one-hour, 55-minute Acura Sports Car Challenge starting at 1:30 p.m. ET on April 5.  The IndyCar Series Honda Grand Prix at 2:30 pm ET on April 6 will be broadcast on ESPN.

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About EPIC:

The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council is a nonprofit organization of ethanol producers and industry leaders who have come together to spread the word about the benefits of ethanol through information and promotional programs. To learn more about the ethanol, visit www.drivingethanol.org .

About LECG:

LECG is a global expert services firm with over 1000 experts and professionals in 36 offices around the world. LECG's experts and professional staff conduct economic and financial analyses to provide objective opinions and advice that help resolve complex disputes and inform legislative, judicial, regulatory, and business decision makers. For more, visit www.lecg.com .

“The Relative Impact of Corn and Energy Prices in the Grocery Aisle,” John M. Urbanchuk, Director, LECG LLC, June 14, 2007 can be found on-line.