The British Eco Racing team's Radical SR10 LMP1 prototype will compete on Shell GTL diesel in the American Le Mans Series opener, but the plan is to run on a fuel containing a 50-per-cent-bio component before the end of the season. And that is just one of several green initiatives being pioneered on the Eco Radical.

The car uses bodywork components made from 100-per-cent-biodegradable hemp fibre and will run solar panels to power some of its electrical systems. It has been liveried in water-based, rather than petroleum-based, paint and its Dunlop tyres will be re-cycled after use.

Eco Racing is the latest venture by veteran sportscar team manager Ian Dawson, whose Taurus team took diesel technology to the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2004. he has spent the past two years developing his Volkswagen Touareg V10 engine (now built by AER) to run on a bio fuel made from the jatropha plant, in conjunction with D1 oils.

Dawson said, "We want a car with a low carbon footprint, because that is the way motorsport is heading." We are aiming to make the most economical vehicle, rather than necessarily the fastest car."

Dawson hopes that he can persuade the ALMS to allow him to run jatropha-based bio diesel, rather than the spec Shell fuel currently mandated and believes that the environmental credentials of the fuel will sway the organisers. Jatropha has a high yield per hectare and is a non-edible product grown on land unsuitable for food production.

The Eco Radical will be driven at Sebring by Harri Toivonen and Ben Collins - former team-mates at Ascari, and historic racer, Simon Wright. Eco Racing intends to do a least three more ALMS races and could race a second car in selected Le Mans Series events in Europe.