Let's face it the Tesla Roadster is a natural when it comes to automotive racing. After all the car's a close cousin to the Lotus Elise which is perhaps one of the best handling sports cars in the world.
And in a competition of alternative energy cars… you have believe the Roadster is a wolf among the sheep.
So it comes as no surprise that the Tesla Roaster swept the Alternative Energy Rally this weekend in Monte Carlo. (See Full Press Release below).
Click HERE to watch a road trip video as we take the Tesla up and down the snow covered Rocky Mountains.
This is not to say that the Roadster didn't deserve to win and prove that an all electric car can be just as much fun to drive and race as the more traditional gas powered sports car.
It just really depends on your perspective. Once an car enthusiast can get over being a petrol head and perhaps embrace the notion of becoming an electron head instead, the basics of car racing all pretty much all the same…except with electric race cars you don't get all that noise and smoke.
Which can either be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.
But at the end of the day racing a car is always a great way to improve it.
Follow on twitter @TFLcar
or watch latest car review videos on YouTube.
March 29, 2010 MONACO — A Tesla Roadster has become the first electric vehicle to win the Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally and the first to win an FIA-sanctioned competition.
Driven by Formula One driver Erik Comas, the Arctic white Roadster beat nearly 100 competitors in range, efficiency and performance. The Roadster’s victory in the three-day, nearly 1,000-kilometer challenge also marks the first time an electric vehicle has dominated a certified Federation Internationale de l'Automobile competition.
The Roadster scored definitive victories in two additional categories, including the Efficiency Cup and the Electric Vehicles Cup. The course, which ended Sunday, covers highways, two-lane back roads, mountain passes and sprints on the Monaco F1 track.
“This is the first time ever that a 1,000-kilometer rally required only €24 worth of fuel – proof that the electric Roadster is definitively revolutionizing the car industry,” said Comas, who has participated in 63 Grands Prix and dozens of other top races. “The Roadster is just as fast as some other supercars I’ve piloted – and it’s astoundingly more efficient than any rival. This was truly a team effort over the past days, and continued efforts like this will be vital in conquering the challenges of the future of motorsport.”
Clean Sweep for World’s Greenest Carmaker
The victory comes a year after Tesla set a world EV range record while competing in last year’s rally. In 2009, an electric blue Roadster traveled the full 387-kilometer Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally from Valence, France, through the mountains to Monaco, finishing with 61 kilometers of remaining range. Although a world range record at the time, Simon Hackett subsequently drove his Roadster 501 kilometers in Australia, setting a new record.
In this year’s rally, which is certified by the Automobile Club de Monaco, a second Tesla Roadster was driven by Rudi Tuisk, Tesla’s Australia general manager and former chief European technician. Tuisk successfully completed the range segment on this year’s slightly longer course, driving 390 km from Annecy, France, to Monaco on a single charge – with 66 kilometers remaining.
Tuisk compared Tesla’s victory this weekend with the 24 Hours of Le Mans of 2005, when an Audi prototype became the first diesel-powered car to win the world-famous event.
“In a humble way, I felt like we had the privilege of witnessing history today,” Tuisk said.
