24h Le Mans
The Shell Eco Marathon is a race organised by oil giant Shell, where the goal is to cover the longest distance possible with a single litre of fuel. It is reserved for students from around the world, from high school and beyond.
Three Shell Eco Marathon races are held around the world each year, one in Europe, one in Asia and one in the United States. The European leg of this race to energy efficiency was held in Rotterdam in May this year as Shell celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the competition (which began in 1985).
There are two competition categories: the Urban Concepts and Prototypes. The first are akin to city cars and must fulfil some very strict criteria. They are bigger than the prototypes, which are lighter and more aerodynamic. The latter are built around the driver, who needs to be small in stature but weigh at least 50 kg.
Engineers have the choice between seven energy types: petrol, diesel, ethanol, compressed natural gas or GTL (Shell's synthetic fuel) for combustion engines, or hydrogen or electric batteries.
The race takes place over two and half days. It is something of a race-against-the-clock instead of entrants competing against each other. In all, competitors have to cover 10 laps or 16 km in under 39 minutes, meaning an average speed of 25 km/h. Once these ten laps have been completed, fuel consumption is measured and used to calculate the "distance potentially covered with one litre".
The Shell Eco Marathon has seen tremendous growth, with 230 inscriptions and 198 schools entered. They have to do five things: form a team, define a project, find a budget (with financial and technical partners), build a car and compete in the race.
To get a feel of what it likes to drive on of these cars, Nicolas Prost and Nick Heifeld, Rebellion Racing drivers, both took to the wheel of a car and drove it along the pit straight.
The Rebellion R-One AER no.12 driven by Nicolas Prost, Nick Heifeld and Mathias Beche was also on the track to mark the occasion, as part of the close partnership forged between the Swiss team and Shell Switzerland.
David Bristol / ACO Translated from French by Clair Pickworth
Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DE LA SARTHE, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, WEDNESDAY 10 JUNE 2015, ATMOSPHERE. The two Shell Eco Marathon cars alongside the Rebellion R-One AER.
