Mazda racecar fueled with 100% renewable diesel at Super Taikyu Race in Okayama, Japan

Photo: Mazda Motor Corp.

Mazda Motor Corp. announced Nov. 13 it was participating in the Super Taikyu Race in Okayama at the Okayama International Circuit Nov. 13-14 with a racecar fueled with 100 percent renewable diesel fuel made from used cooking oil and algae oil.

Mazda is a member of the Hiroshima “Your Green Fuel” project, a demonstration for popularizing and spreading the use of next-generation biofuels jointly run by the Hiroshima Council for Automotive Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration as an activity of the Energy Expert Subcommittee and Euglena Co. Ltd. The project aims to establish a model for revitalizing regional areas by retaining the entire value chain of carbon-neutral fuels from the manufacture and supply of raw materials through to fuel use within the Hiroshima area. In August 2020, the project confirmed that the performance of this biobased diesel fuel was on a par with petroleum-based diesel, and Mazda started using it in company cars with diesel engines.

Now, the Skyactiv-D 1.5 engine, installed in the Mazda vehicle that competed in the Super Taikyu Race Nov. 13-14, demonstrated peak performance on renewable diesel fuel without any engine modifications. The racecar, “Mazda Spirit Racing Bio concept Demio,” participated in the ST-Q class running on the branded hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel by Euglena called “Susteo” with the cooperation of the NOPRO racing team. The plan is to receive fuels from Euglena for the next season as well.

The Super Taikyu Races have been held since 1991 as endurance races for mass-produced cars, and the ST-Q class is a class open to cars developed by manufacturers and approved by the Super Taikyu Organizing Committee.