HERO aims for F1's green goal

Historic car rallies may celebrate the internal combustion engine, but they will go green in 2021 as the Historic Endurance Rallying Organisation (HERO) aims to follow Formula 1 and go carbon neutral.

Flights, transport and car emissions will be offset by tree planting. Costs will then be added to entry fees, based on each car’s expected emissions during an event.

HERO chairman Tomas de Vargas Machuca said the scheme would be introduced in 2021, ahead of its 2022 Paris to Peking Rally. The endurance rally’s route will cover 9,000 miles. Competitors face an extended Mongolian section and a more challenging route through Europe.

Under other existing offsetting schemes, a Bentley Speed Six would cost £225 to offset emissions for the rally; a Morris Oxford £100. “It’s the right thing to do to show that we are not complacent,” said de Varga Machuca. “Hopefully lawmakers will acknowledge our proactiveness and not then ban everything.”