One year ago, Drayson Racing debuted its No. 8 Lola-Judd coupe in the LMP1 class at Petit Le Mans. The British team's mission to advance the development of environmentally sustainable motoring has been endorsed by progress since then.
"It's been a year since the first race in the Drayson Racing Lola-Judd and it's been a huge learning curve for me as a driver, but I feel totally on top of the car now," said team regular Jonny Cocker, who will team with endurance racing veteran Emanuel Pirro at Petit Le Mans as well as team owner/driver Paul Drayson. "That's huge credit to the great car and engine package that Lola and Judd, respectively, have put together and with the superb Michelin tires. They have made the car an incredibly usable, yet very competitive, package. I can't wait to drive again this year and see how different it feels with a year's P1 experience under my belt."
Since introducing E85 bio-ethanol to the Judd V10 at the ALMS season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring in March, Drayson Racing has alternated between E10 fuel and E85. The 10 percent blend of ethanol to gasoline fueled the prototype at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup race at Silverstone, and will do so again for the upcoming 1000km Intercontinental Le Mans Cup race in Zhuhai, China. E85 fuel powered the car to an ALMS victory at Road America, two pole positions (Mid-Ohio and Road America) and two Michelin Green X Challenge victories (Miller Motorsports Park, Road America). The E85-fueled car also led significant portions of MMP and Lime Rock.
Switching between the two fuels demands a lot of the Drayson Racing crew, which must make fuel cell and fuel pump changes to optimize fuel delivery and change race day strategy for the different fuel stint duration.
"We met my expectations in competing with the other gasoline cars at Silverstone in the Le Mans Series. Now we come to back to the ALMS to show our middle-of-the-season success was no fluke," said team manager Dale White. "Road Atlanta was good for us right out of the box last year and I am confident we can better that performance with a whole season of running the car and Michelin tires under our belts. We are realistic about going against the diesels for overall and in the ILMC, but we are not going to give anything away either. We are here to show what a sustainable fuel package can do and what Drayson Racing can achieve against the best competition in the world."