Petition to prevent the banning of leaded fuel in Canada
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Canadian racers are very concerned about the proposed ban on leaded fuel in Canada for race vehicles only. The government has acknowledged that competition vehicles only use 1.5% of the leaded fuel sold in Canada but have not determined if any lead contamination reaches spectators or surrounding communities. Nitro is considered a leaded fuel so such a ban would mean an end to all top ranked race cars in Canada as well as many other competition classes such as Stock/Superstock etc. The ban would even prevent American race teams from bringing their own fuel into Canada.
98.5% of the leaded fuel in Canada is used by the aviation industry and they are excempt from this ban.
Re: Petition to prevent the banning of leaded fuel in Canada
Sounds like what we go thru here in California. 1% of the cars cause a problem so they target all of us, while the real polluters continue with no restrictions. Good luck stopping the ban. Do you guys have a SEMA up there? http://www.semasan.org/
Re: Petition to prevent the banning of leaded fuel in Canada
I've been reading the comments from many people and so many are still uninformed as to what the ban means.
"banning leaded fuel will increase street racing?
OK, how is that possible? The majority of the race cars that use leaded fuel are not street legal? Why would that increase street racing and if your street car uses leaded fuel, how are you going to drive it on the street when there's no leaded fuel of any kind available?
The leaded fuel ban isn't about street racing. It's a fuel ban that will keep many high performance race vehicles, not just drag cars, from competing in Canada.
Drag cars, stock cars, motorcycles, truck/tractor pullers, off road racers, karts, road racers, snowmobiles and just about every other form of motorsport where a vehicle benefits from a leaded fuel.
Preventing all these racers who rely on leaded fuel for racing but allowing the aviation sector to use the remaining 98.5% of the leaded fuel usage in Canada isn't right.
California has the strictest pollution laws in North America and it still allows leaded fuel for competition vehicles because the consumption is such a low percentage. You can't play favoritism. 100% ban on all leaded fuel or no ban.
SEMA is aware of the situation and is also fighting the ban.
Re: Petition to prevent the banning of leaded fuel in Canada
Believe me this is going to happen, it's just a matter of time, the pressure is on for sanchioning bodys of all forms of racing to start using unleaded fuels, I think nascar has run or may be running all now. it's a shame but as the old saying goes...you can't fight city hall.....but for so long....
Re: Petition to prevent the banning of leaded fuel in Canada
Nascar already uses unleaded fuel. Formula 1 uses methanol.
Drag cars with high compression ratios or power adders from multiple stages of NOS or big blowers/turbos produce huge amounts of compression that unleaded fuel can't touch. Nascar and open wheel cars don't run into this problem.
Not everyone can or wants to switch to alcohol. At this time there is no unleaded fuel that can handle high compression ratios and the current high octane unleaded fuels are oxygenated which is banned in many classes. In order for the vehicles that currently require leaded fuel to prevent detonation to stop using it, the fuel suppliers need to come up with an alternative that won't harm the engines. A ban in Canada won't be enough to force them to produce such a fuel. If it was a US ban also, they'd be pushing for a better unleaded fuel or the motorsports community would complain enough to prevent the ban.
Nitromethane is considered a leaded fuel. That would mean an end to all top fuel dragsters and funny cars since there is no replacement fuel for that.
As I mentioned above, it's not just drag cars that would be affected. Any form of racing that uses a power adder usually uses a leaded fuel. There's a lot of motorized vehicles that use NOS that aren't cars.
Re: Petition to prevent the banning of leaded fuel in Canada
Signed! The small amount that racers use is a drop in the bucket compared to the other sources. Why not put some effort into converting aviation vehicles to run non-leaded fuels? Anything is possible. Is Kerosene leaded??
Re: Petition to prevent the banning of leaded fuel in Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen 87 IROC
Nascar already uses unleaded fuel. Formula 1 uses methanol.
Drag cars with high compression ratios or power adders from multiple stages of NOS or big blowers/turbos produce huge amounts of compression that unleaded fuel can't touch. Nascar and open wheel cars don't run into this problem.
Not everyone can or wants to switch to alcohol. At this time there is no unleaded fuel that can handle high compression ratios and the current high octane unleaded fuels are oxygenated which is banned in many classes. In order for the vehicles that currently require leaded fuel to prevent detonation to stop using it, the fuel suppliers need to come up with an alternative that won't harm the engines. A ban in Canada won't be enough to force them to produce such a fuel. If it was a US ban also, they'd be pushing for a better unleaded fuel or the motorsports community would complain enough to prevent the ban.
Nitromethane is considered a leaded fuel. That would mean an end to all top fuel dragsters and funny cars since there is no replacement fuel for that.
As I mentioned above, it's not just drag cars that would be affected. Any form of racing that uses a power adder usually uses a leaded fuel. There's a lot of motorized vehicles that use NOS that aren't cars.
there have been track and dyno tested and verified alternatives to leaded racing gas for very high compression and NOS engines for a long time.
Re: Petition to prevent the banning of leaded fuel in Canada
Somebody in Ottawa must have gotten the message.
The April 30 issue of the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the Canadian government, brought good news to drag racers in Canada. The amendment for the importation, production and sale of leaded fuel used for the purpose of competition in Canada has been extended until January 1, 2010.
This is the seventh time this exemption has been amended. It caused concern among Canadian racers and track operators because the exemption was set to expire Jan. 1, 2009 and no word of another extension was rumored. They provided the government with hard data pointing out the severe economic impact that would be felt by those in the industry.
The economic impact would not have been limited to drag racing. Three of the largest races in Canada are IHRA Knoll Gas Nitro Jam events, which bring thousands of racers and fans and millions of dollars into the communities of Grand Bend, Cayuga (both in Ontario) and Edmonton (Alberta).
The majority of race teams who compete in the Canadian IHRA events are based in the United States, which has no ban on leaded fuels. If the exemption would have expired many of those teams would have been unable to compete at the Canadian national events.
It was also pointed out that just 1.5% of all leaded fuel imported into Canada was used for competition purposes. The rest was used in the aviation industry, which has a permanent exemption.
Though the exemption has been extended, a permanent solution has yet to be put in place.
“There will be some tough challenges for 2010 if the extension is not there,” IHRA president Aaron Polburn said.
Torco Racing Fuels and other fuel companies who focus on the racing community are actively working on alternatives. Scott Wildgust, the Ontario distributor for Torco, said fuel suppliers are currently working on high-octane unleaded fuel to be used for racing applications. These fuel companies use additives like benzene to boost the octane rating in unleaded fuel, but benzene is “extremely volatile and almost impossible to transport due to safety regulations.”
Torco offers a range of unleaded fuels for different racing applications that range in octane rating from 96 to 108. Vehicles that compete in the Stock, Super Stock, Pro Stock and Pro Modified classes require a higher octane rating. The other three professional classes, Top Fuel, Nitro Funny Car and Alcohol Funny Car, do not use leaded fuel.
Polburn realizes a permanent solution is needed.
“With three of our 11 national events in Canada, along with a strong presence and commitment to Canadian drag racing, we have a commitment to provide the best possible show in Canada and will continue to work on the leaded fuel issue,” Polburn said. “We are looking into every possibility in keeping the same show in Canada that we have in the United States. We’re working on other options if the extension is not met.”
Re: Petition to prevent the banning of leaded fuel in Canada
It's been a while but someone in Ottawa must be listening. Without any concrete data for the above mentioned ban, they're going to do some testing. Hopefully they won't fudge the numbers in their favor. I'd love to see similar testing in residential areas around airports to see if the aviation use of leaded fuel creates a greater health risk than the 1.5% of motorsports use does.
Eagle Motorplex is at Ashcroft BC.
Health Canada and Environment Canada to set up test equipment at Eagle Motorplex to test leaded fuel numbers
On April 30th, 2008, the exemption that had been provided for competition vehicles was extended until January 1, 2010. This extension period was given to provide time for the government to further study the potential health risks associated with the use of leaded gasoline at Canadian race tracks. Health Canada and Environment Canada will therefore be conducting a monitoring study in 2009 to quantify lead levels at different Canadian race tracks. Health Canada will use this new information to accurately estimate the lead exposure at race tracks.
The health impacts estimated from the planned 2009 study, as well as further economic data on the racing industry that will be gathered by Environment Canada, will be used by the Government of Canada to make an informed evidenced-based decision about the future use of leaded fuels at Canadian race tracks.
At the time of each visit, the technicians will set up stationary air samplers at various distances from the edges of the track. These air samplers will be used to collect lead samples over the course of three time-frames [the day prior to a scheduled race day; during the race events [ including test and tune; and the day following the race event].
During the race events, the samplers will be operated from approximately 30 minutes prior to races commencing until approximately 30 minutes after racing activities have ceased for the day, or until 12 hours of sampling time has been accumulated [whichever comes first]. During non-race days the samples will be run for the same time period to assess background lead levels.
Air samplers will also be set up in a residential/rural area close by and run as above. This will allow comparison of on-track and off-track data collected during the same three time-frames.
Last edited by Stephen 87 IROC; 01-31-2009 at 11:40 PM.
