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10th Annual REFUEL EV Track Event is July 1 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

; Date: April 10, 2018

Tags: Electric Racing

REFUEL is an opportunity to drive an electric car or motorcycle, in race conditions, on one of the pre-eminent race tracks in the USA, the famed WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway. It is conducted by a racing school, Speed Ventures, and is a time-trial race meaning participants are racing against the clock and not against each other. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the REFUEL racing event, and the organizers expect a large turnout -- if nothing else, lots of Tesla Model 3's will have been delivered by then, and Model 3 owners might turn out in droves.
Electric cars on the racetrack at REFUEL 2011, Source: David Herron

Speed Ventures celebrates 10 years of gathering EV enthusiasts in Monterey, California, to push the limits of clean power.

On July 1st, Speed Ventures will host the 10th annual REFUEL EV track event at historic—and freshly re-named—WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. REFUEL welcomes electric cars and motorcycles to showcase clean power technology in a motorsports setting.

Speed Ventures, California’s leading recreational motorsports sanctioning body, envisioned REFUEL a decade ago as an opportunity to push the boundaries of EV performance. Those boundaries have been expanding rapidly since its inception, and the 10th annual event is sure see track records fall.

Speed Ventures will provide track time and basic performance driving instruction for drivers of electric cars and riders of electric motorcycles. The event is open to production EVs as well as to conversions and purpose-built all-electric race cars.

We expect this year to be the most competitive yet in the all-electric REFUEL Time Trial competition which includes classes for production vehicles, conversions, and prototypes.

The REFUEL Clean Power Motorsports Event will offer the following:

  • Drive your EV or Electric Motorcycle on WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca at speed and receive basic performance driving instruction
  • Participate in the REFUEL Time Trial to see who is the fastest EV driver at WTRLS
  • Free charging stations for REFUEL track event and Time Trial participants
  • A Parade Lap on the historic race course that’s open to all EVs in attendance—low speed, passengers are allowed, no helmets required. (Parade Lap is Tentatively Scheduled!)
Some of the leading electric motorcycle racers of that time, at REFUEL 2011, Source: David Herron
Electric cars recharging between heats, at REFUEL 2011, Source: David Herron
A Nissan Leaf negotiating the famed Corkscrew, at REFUEL 2011, Source: David Herron
Electric cars lined up at the Start/Stop line, at REFUEL 2012, the first year Tesla Model S's competed Source: David Herron
A massive fire caused cancellation/rescheduling of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 2012, allowing one PPIHC entrant to compete, at REFUEL 2012 Source: David Herron

About Speed Ventures

Since 2001, Speed Ventures has become one of the largest recreational motorsports organizations in the U.S. introducing thousands of drivers to the sport of road-racing at events held year-round on the best tracks in California, Nevada, and beyond. Speed Ventures organizes practice and test days, instruction for beginners, time trial competitions, and wheel-to-wheel racing. Speed Ventures also hosts corporate and media events and sanctions races for several successful competition series. REFUEL website: (www.refuelraces.com) http://www.refuelraces.com

David Herron
David Herron is a writer and software engineer focusing on the wise use of technology. He is especially interested in clean energy technologies like solar power, wind power, and electric cars. David worked for nearly 30 years in Silicon Valley on software ranging from electronic mail systems, to video streaming, to the Java programming language, and has published several books on Node.js programming and electric vehicles.