QUIT Targa West and Hyundai Australia are out to prove motor sport can be ‘green’, announcing the first ever diesel powered entry in the history of the event, to be run in the City of Perth and surrounding shires from September 4-7, 2008.
The Hyundai i30 CRDi turbo diesel won the Carsguide ‘Green Car of the Year award’ in 2007 and ECOCAR ‘Best Small Car’ 2008 award. This year it will make its motor sport debut in the Modern Challenge class of QUIT Targa West.
The Challenge class caters for standard road cars, which run without a roll cage and are speed restricted to a maximum of 130km/k.
The Hyundai i30 SX CRDi turbo Diesel will be driven by Razvan Vlad, a Western Australian rally driver with a passion for the environment, who said he chose the car because it will be quick enough to make the point that green cars can also be fun.
“It will be my first tarmac event in Australia as we have only competed in gravel events since moving here,” said Vlad.
“We had the idea of running an environmental friendly car, which has never been done before in Western Australia, and the i30 CRDi was the perfect choice.”
“Modern Diesel engines can be just as powerful as high performance petrol engines, but we have to adapt our driving style to suit the car, and I’m really looking forward to the challenge. We have done a couple of tests now and the i30 CRDi, with its standard Australian tuned suspension, handles extremely well.”
The entry is the result of a joint venture initiative between Hyundai Motor Company Australia, which is supplying the car, and the Western Australian Hyundai Dealer network, which is supporting the event with drivers, technicians and a professional race support team.
“We are delighted that we and our Hyundai Dealer partners in W.A. are involved in this challenge”, said Heinz Wiesner, Regional General Manager of Hyundai Australia. “The environmentally friendly i30 is a landmark car for the Hyundai brand, having won three major Australian awards since its launch last year.”
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