The recently crowned 125cc World Champion, Marc Márquez today visited the Repsol Technology Centre (RTC), located in Móstoles (Madrid), where he was able to get a first hand understanding of the details for the development of the fuel and lubricant that he used this season. Márquez won the title with a Spanish motorbike and, with a fuel and lubricant both exclusively developed in these state-of-the-art installations. In the RTC, Repsol has a blending plant specialised in competition fuels.
The researcher workers in the centre, which also supplies the competition fuel for the MotoGP Repsol Honda Team, developed a new two-stroke fuel designed for the new motorisation of the 125ccs. Repsol supplied Marc Márquez’s team with more than 3,000 litres of this competition fuel to cover the requirements for the whole season, which they consumed at a rate of 150 litres every Grand Prix.
During the preseason, two samples of 50 litres each were tested at the Montmeló and Jerez circuits to check which fuel would give the best performance. The team, with advice from the Repsol technologists, chose one of them and from then on, 500 litres were prepared to finish the final tests and be able to carry out the relevant adjustments to the engine. Prior to the Qatar Grand Prix, the first of the season, the production of a single lot of more than 3,000 litres went ahead.
Over a year’s work
It was in the 2010 season, when the results of the work carried out during 2009 to develop and manufacture a new competition fuel for the 125cc category at the Repsol Technology Centre, started to be seen. The first rewards of the hard work put in by Repsol were reaped with the DTR-9 fuel, which the Repsol-KTM team began using halfway through the previous season. In 2010, the development of this fuel was continued to create the DTR-10 fuel which was successfully adapted to the Derbi RSA of the Ajo Motorsport team.
Marc Márquez (Cervera 1993) was the only rider on the 125cc grid to benefit from this competition fuel, the base of which matches the Efitec 98 fuel which is available to any end user from the over 3,600 petrol stations Repsol has in Spain.
Maximum performance
Just as for MotoGP, one of the main challenges facing the Repsol Technology Centre research workers was the adjustment of the consumption of Marc Márquez’s motorbike to achieve maximum performance on-track. After an intense research and development campaign and multiple tests, Repsol manufactured a single lot in its Technology Centre, to cover the requirements of the whole season and assure that the Marc Márquez team always used the same amount of fuel in the 17 Grands Prix and scheduled testing sessions.
Repsol also developed and manufactured the young rider’s motorbike lubricant. The Repsol Moto Racing 2T is completely synthetic, with an ester base and high performance. It was developed in the Repsol Technology Centre using methods unique to Repsol, and was produced in the energy company’s refinery in Puertollano (Ciudad Real). In this case, it is the only product developed for Repsol competition teams which is marketed without modifications.
Repsol gains a large amount of experience from the development and manufacture of fuels and lubricants for the major motorsport competitions. All the fuels used in the Motorcycle World Championships must be approved and must comply with the International Motorcycle Federation regulations. Repsol has been involved in the world of competition for more than 40 years, an unbeatable test bank for its products.
Marc Márquez >> Audio
“I was speechless after seeing the whole manufacturing process of the fuel I used this season and, above all, the amazing complex the Repsol Technology Centre is. I was very surprised by the installations and laboratories they have for testing two and four-stroke fuels and I want to thank all the people who have worked on this project. They made it possible for me to have this fuel that allowed me to win decisive tenths of seconds at the circuits. I’m very happy to have been able to get to know the whole process up close and I hope to be able to continue for many more years with the same fuel.”
