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26^th August 2006 (Source: Energy Efficient Motorsport )

The EEMS-supported Caterham sports car set another new record on the 12 and 13 July 2006, with support from the Energy-Efficient Motorsport (EEMS) initiative of Motorsport Development UK. The team clocked a certified 131.6mpg (2.15 l/100km) at the Shell Eco-Marathon after perfecting their run of 7 laps of the Rockingham stadium at a minimum speed of 15mph, the only road-legal car to take part.

The Caterham 2R (Research Record breaker), based on a standard 1600cc Caterham 7 Roadsport car with a 1.6 litre K series engine, was modified by Axon Automotive, with lightweight seating, bodywork changes to improve the aerodynamics and narrow low rolling resistance tyres. The team's careful race plan for the Eco-Marathon format of four practice runs and six timed runs paid off with a massive 30% improvement over last year.

"The big difference this year was improved eco-driving made possible with the improved dashboard instrumentation," said driver Ryan Smith, who works for Axon Automotive designing carbon fibre chassis. “We started at 65mpg on our first practice run and we improved by modifying driving techniques through the day. The final technique was to floor the throttle at around 15mph in third gear, accelerate to 25mph and then turn off the engine and coast." Economical driving - not exceeding 2000rpm in lower gears - could deliver economy of around 50mpg if the car was on the road.

Industrial designer James Dunster came along as mechanic for the day. "For the design, we put on bigger sidebodies this year to get the air around the rear wheel arch, and a special cut-off shape at the back of the vehicle to take air across to the rear edge and reduce drag."

The project had benefited from technology developed by Axon Automotive. "Ours is the world’s only carbon beam framework technology and has many applications in road cars which would make tremendous production and energy savings," said project leader Dr Steve Cousins. "It was a surprise just how important the driving behaviour was and points to real on-road opportunities to save fuel by doing quite simple things like changing up every gear earlier than we do conventionally. It was also surprising just how much interest there was this year in the fact that this was a road car in the Eco-Marathon. It mirrors similar interest expressed at the European Shell Eco-Marathon held in France earlier this summer."

Axon aims to return with a 500cc powered vehicle in next year's Eco-Marathon.

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