Ethanol
Ethanol debut at 2010 Rally Dakar
12/15/2009
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| The driver, Klever Kolberg (right.), and the navigator Giovanni Godoi |
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Eight thousand liters of Brazilian sugarcane ethanol were shipped to Argentina in thursday (12/10/2009), to fuel the team led by Brazilian driver Klever Kolberg in the 2010 edition of the world´s greatest rally race, the Rally Dakar. With support from the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA), Kolberg will launch a new "Ethanol" category, becoming the first pilot ever to compete at the famed Dakar using a vehicle fueled exclusively with ethanol - a Brazilian-made Mitsubishi Pajero SUV equipped with a flex-fuel V-6 engine.
The ethanol shipped to Argentina was produced in Brazil by Cosan, the largest ethanol producer in the world and one of UNICA´s member companies. Cosan is a sponsor of Kolberg´s Valtra Dakar Eco Team, along with Basf, Pirelli, Mitsubishi, Mobil, UNICA and Valtra. Cosan holds the rights to the Mobil and Esso brands in Brazil.
"We´d like to thank Cosan and UNICA for their invaluable assistance, or we would not have been able to overcome a number of logistical and bureaucratic obstacles to get ethanol from Brazil to the competition. Now, the debut of ethanol at the Dakar is complete, because it´s going to happen with sustainably produced cane ethanol from Brazil," said Kolberg.
The barrels of ethanol will be distributed to various refueling stops along the route. Knonw previously as the Paris-Dakar, today´s Rally Dakar has been held in South America since last year. The 2010 edition begins on January 1st in Buenos Aires, with competitors heading to Iquique, in northern Chile, and back to Buenos Aires on a separate route through the chilean capital, Santiago, covering a total of 9,000 kilometers. |
Barrels containing ethanol that will be used in Dakar 2010 (Photo: Cosan)
Cosan: official supplier of renewable fuel (Photo: Cosan) |
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