Fernando Rees: Working towards a better future
Everyone involved in top-level motorsport is aware of the global environmental and sustainability debate surrounding them, and manufacturers are constantly striving to develop and test new technologies such as the hybrid power sources which will be used by Audi and Toyota in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo this weekend. Once proven, these technologies become part of our daily lives in, for example, the cars we may drive on the road.
Some people embrace their responsibilities wholeheartedly, and one of those is Larbre Compétition driver, Fernando Rees. The Brazilian, who will be behind the wheel of the No.50 Larbre Corvette C6-ZR1 LMGTE Am entry alongside Patrick Bornhauser and Julien Canal, has been the driving force behind a move to make the two-car team carbon-neutral, with all on-track and off-track emissions covered.
For Rees, the logical next step was to set a new example of sustainability with a carbon-neutral race event, and there seemed to him to be no better stage than the 6 Hours of São Paulo. “Racing at Interlagos is bound to be a very special occasion for me and one that I wanted to mark in some significant way. My partners GFAI/GSS have been working to successfully make my and the team’s 2012 season carbon neutral. We’re taking that a step further at Interlagos by off-setting the entire event’s CO2 emissions, a first for the FIA World Endurance Championship. It will be a very proud moment for me to compete at my home race knowing that we’ve helped to do our bit for the environment.
“Brazil is a country at the center of the climate change and global sustainability debate. So combining these two factors – where I come from and my assessment of the work that I do as a racing driver – sustainability is a personal concern, and ‘green racing’ has become a dream that motivates me.”
Fiona Miller (interview by Cécile Bonardel)
Photo: INTERLAGOS (SAO PAULO, BRAZIL), AUTODROMO JOSE CARLOS PACE, 6 HOURS OF SAO PAULO, WEDNESDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER 2012, PRESS CONFERENCE. Fernando Rees is speaking to the media during the press conference with the Brazilian drivers.