Schuppan Drives in Landmark Australian Eco Challenge

MULGRAVE, AUSTRALIA – October 16, 2009: Former long distance sports car driver Vern Schuppan is set to trade high-speed thrills for cutting edge environmental motoring.

Schuppan, who won the famous 24 heures du Mans in 1983 in a Porsche 956, will take on Australia’s red centre and a host of competing production cars, in this month’s Global Green Challenge.

Driving a MINI Cooper D, Schuppan will aim to set the best fuel consumption result in the 3,000 kilometre ‘race’ from Darwin to Adelaide.

The event – the first opportunity for the Australian public to evaluate manufacturer claims about fuel economy in an official FIA sanctioned event – is not a ‘go-slow’ economy run from the past. Drivers will be expected to maintain a minimum average speed of 75 km/h, whilst delivering the best possible real-world fuel economy.

Using just 3.9 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres, according to official laboratory tests, the MINI Cooper D is ideally suited to the task.

As a winner of the world’s oldest sports car endurance race, Schuppan is no stranger to long distance endeavours and is relishing the chance to pit the British car against the harsh Australian outback.

“Driving in the first Global Green Challenge is a very exciting prospect. It’s such a unique event which allows the general public to see how far modern production cars have come in terms of fuel consumption.

“I’m sure that the event will grow into something really big in the coming years,” he said.

Schuppan has never driven a modern MINI Cooper but is looking forward to putting the car’s fuel consumption claims to the test.

“I find it quite amazing that you can have such impressive fuel economy packaged in something like this and still have the performance people expect,” he said.

The strong competitive drive which underpinned his successful motor sport career is evident in Schuppan’s outlook for the event.

“I think we’re in with a shot. The Cooper D has a good chance of winning its class,” he said.

Born in Whyalla, South Australia, in 1943, Schuppan has seen success in many racing categories, competing in over a dozen Formula One races, the Indianapolis 500, Japanese Sports-Prototype series (which he won in 1983), Bathurst 1000 and Rothmans International Series Foruma 5000 (which he won in 1976). In 2006 he was elected to the eminent Monaco-based Club International des Anciens Pilotes de Grand Prix F1.

The general public will be able to follow the exploits of team MINI at the Global Green Challenge, which starts in Darwin on Saturday 24 October, at www.twitter.com/followthemini