New Record for McLaren-Honda Truck Team in Mobil Delvac 1 Driver Efficiency Challenge

Early results from the Mobil Delvac 1 Driver Efficiency Challenge – a competition designed to reward safe and fuel-efficient driving among the McLaren-Honda truck team – have been announced this week.

‘The Team behind The Team’ – the drivers of the trucks that transport McLaren’s race cars, kit and parts between European Grand Prix races – competed to drive to each race as efficiently as possible, judged on Fleetboard data. The competition took place over the course of the ‘European’ Grand prix season, and produced a new record for the team as it achieved a combined fuel saving of 4.8 per cent compared with miles per gallon consumed in the 2014 Driver Efficiency Challenge[2].

The drivers were measured on a number of variables, such as throttle pressure and engine usage, across seven European races including Spain, Belgium and Italy. This year, the competition included a new variable – braking as a percentage of the journey distance, and trucks’ branding celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Mobil Delvac brand of heavy-duty diesel engine oils.

With the long-term development of the team a key focus of the competition, the new ‘efficiency gains’ category was the major change introduced this year. The category aimed to recognise the driver who has achieved the biggest year-on-year improvement. The winner of the ‘top driver’ title and the efficiency gains category will be announced at an awards ceremony on 8th December.

Jonathan Neale, acting CEO and chief operating officer, McLaren Racing said: “Each year, the Mobil Delvac 1 Driver Efficiency Challenge shows that high quality synthetic lubricants, in particular the Mobil Delvac 1 LE 5W-30 and Mobilube 1 SHC™ 75W-9 used by our truck team, deliver on their fuel efficiency promise when put to the test.”

“As well as looking for on-track efficiencies, as part of McLaren’s sustainability commitments we also look for improvements off it too. That’s why we’re proud to support the annual Mobil Delvac 1 Driver Efficiency Challenge to reward our truckies’ commitment to the most fuel efficient fleet driving.

“All our fleet of transporters and trucks use Mobil Delvac 1 engine oils.”

Maciej Marcinowski, commercial vehicle lubricants marketing advisor - Europe, Africa and Middle East, ExxonMobil, said: “At ExxonMobil we enjoy putting our products to the test because we are confident in their ability to consistently deliver. Achieving a 4.8 per cent saving has a positive impact on our customer’s business, both in terms of driver safety and, of course, the bottom line and we are proud to have helped the McLaren-Honda team achieve this.”