Motorsport UK leads sustainable fuels discussion at Autosport International
Ian Smith, Technical Director, Motorsport UK and Jeremy Aston-Phillips, Director, ROWE MOTOR OIL UK lead the sustainable fuels discussion at Autosport International.
In 2024, Motorsport UK launched its sustainable fuels consultation, shared with entire UK motorsport community, for Motorsport UK to receive feedback before any next steps are taken.
Ian Smith commented, “We are focusing on the first steps in terms of meaningful sustainability for the future of the sport, as a governing body the first thing we are looking at is the actions that we can take in terms of competition. We are looking at all possible propulsion technologies, and we have the opportunity to lead this journey on behalf of motorsport, making meaningful, proactive steps in terms of our future.”
Sustainable fuels are already widely used within motorsport and their extended introduction will help the sport to reduce its carbon footprint, demonstrate innovation and safeguard the future of motorsport in the UK, while extending the life of the existing internal combustion engines without an ongoing reliance on fossil fuels.
Jeremy Aston-Phillips added, “ROWE Oil is in a unique position as a manufacturer, having built a new factory ten years ago as a sustainable manufacturer of lubricants, with one race oil and four road oils for the bulk of the contemporary car park today. If we get to a point in the future where we are pushed to move away from cars with internal combustion engines, there still are cars in existence with internal combustion engines that will require lubrication.”
Motorsport UK is proposing to continue to support and encourage the optional use of sustainable fuels during 2025. For 2026, Motorsport UK proposes to mandate that all specialist FIA Appendix J racing fuels contain a minimum of 50% sustainable content with a roadmap to 100% fossil-free racing fuels by 2030.
Smith added, “We need to think about the whole life impact of the vehicles that our members and competitors are already using to enjoy their sport and that spectators love to come and watch. We have paddocks and service parks full of existing cars, much of the whole life environmental impact of these cars has already occurred.
“The most sustainable way to continue to enjoy our sport is to continue to enjoy these cars, and not to replace them with new vehicles (which brings a whole new lifecycle of environmental impact). To do that, we must take positive steps to reduce the environmental impact of these cars for the rest of their usable life.”
Consultation is now closed. For more information on sustainable fuels, please see here.