Click to view a hi-res gallery of the Volvo C30 Green Racer

In the campaign to make racing greener, the World Touring Car Championship has been a leader. Following the example set by its sister company Audi at Le Mans, Volkswagen's Spanish subsidiary Seat began taking race wins in the WTCC in diesel-powered Leons. But the series has announced it is beginning to phase in ethanol, and of all the carmakers in the world, Volvo has stepped up to the plate.

We brought you initial news of the C30 Flexifuel Green Racer when it was unveiled for the local Swedish Touring Car Championship, in which it has already been winning races against fossil-fuel regulars. Volvo has now revealed, however, that the Green Racer is heading to the top-tier World Touring Car Championship. The event will be a one-off demonstration for the time being, as the Volvo won't be eligible for points and will only compete in the one race, next weekend at Brands Hatch. For both Volvo and the WTCC, however, it should be an interesting exercise. Check out the press release after the jump and the images in the gallery below.

[Source: Volvo]

The opening rounds of the World Touring Car Championshio took place last week in Brazil and Seat won both races with drivers Yvan Muller and Gabrieli Tarquini. Spain-based Seat is a division of Volkswagen, and like other brands in the group they are pushing diesel engines in motorsports as well as on the road. This year's Seat Leons are powered by 2.0L four cylinder TDI engines. The front wheel drive Seats were at a definite disadvantage to the rear drive BMWs in handling but the torque of the turbodiesel engines allowed them to easily pull away on the straights. Unfortunately we don't get these touring cars here in the U.S. but we'll be looking forward to checking out the VW Jetta TDI cup this spring and summer.

[Source: Top Gear]

Volkswagen Group's Spanish brand Seat will be debuting their newest entry into the World Touring Car Championship at this weekend's WTCC round in Anderstorp, Sweden. The new León will be the first diesel-powered car to compete in the series. Seat is running two TDI Leóns equipped with a 280hp engine derived from the 170hp 2.0L unit in the the production León FR.

For now only two works entries driven by Jordi Gené and Yvan Muller will run the diesel as they continue to develop the new power-plant. Once it's been proven reliable and competitive other teams will be able to get the TDI version. Seat's press release including the specs are after the jump.

[Source: SEAT]

Just as the Indy Racing League has already done, the World Touring Car Championship has decided to make the switch to biofuels starting in 2009. As a matter of fact, for the 2008 year, teams will be allowed to use ethanol and diesel fuels in addition to standard unleaded gasoline. This article quotes Jacques Behar, chairman and CEO of championship promoter KSO as saying, "Alternative fuels will play a major role in motorsport's future and it is our goal to be at the forefront of this technology. With the close relationship between touring cars and their road-going equivalents we believe that the WTCC is the logical platform to raise public awareness of bio fuels."

Is it only a matter of time before NASCAR (which only recently switched to unleaded) joins in? What about F1? All of this begs the question: Is motorsport the "perfect" way to showcase green cars or is it a waste of fuel?

Related:

• Honda tests 100 percent ethanol IRL engine at Daytona
• Andretti Green testing with bigger Honda engine, ethanol
• Honda's IRL engines will get bigger with switch to ethanol
• Honda Insight rally team ready to race again
• No more engine whine! Could Formula 1 go diesel?
• Honda F1 confirms plan to promote environmental awareness with 2007 livery
• Alfa to return to WTCC under diesel power

[Source: Autosport via Jalopnik]

After showing off one of the hottest concepts in the form of the 8C Competizione at the Paris Auto Show, Alfa Romeo is now making some greenish news in motorsports. According to Auto Industry, U.K. magazine Autosport is reporting that the Italian automaker will return to the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) with a manufacturer-backed team and two diesel-powered vehicles. Autosport says that the decision was approved at the board level in September and that a racing version of the 147 is currently under development. It's speculated that four gasoline-powered race cars will accompany the two diesels.

This August article on the Autosport website discusses Alfa's decision to use the 147 over the 159 in a speculated full return to the series, but it doesn't make any references to diesel power plants. I wasn't able to find similar news from any other sources, so let's keep our fingers crossed and hope this isn't just a bunch of baloney (...er prosciutto).

[Source: Auto Industry]