Car leasing customers may be interested to hear that the greenest rally car ever manufactured has been banned from competition because it is too fast.
The hybrid eco-car manufactured by Honda has been withdrawn from the Formula 1000 rally championship as fellow competitors claimed it had an unfair advantage.
Honda’s car, which achieved two first places and a second in the first three rounds of this year’s championship, uses a tuned petrol-electric hybrid system to achieve a higher power output and better fuel efficiency.
The championship organisers phoned the Oaktec team, which developed the engine, to request that they stand down from the series.
Oaktec has agreed to the demand and will now look to race in other classes.
Paul Andrews, the boss of the Oaktrec team, said the phonecall was “a bit of a shock” as he felt the team was due to get some glory for its years of hard work on the engine.
The most recent J.D Power and Associates 2011 Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study ranked Honda in second place, which is good news for people looking to lease Honda vehicles.