Michelin Awards Environmental Performance in American Le Mans Series
By John O'Dell October 13, 2009
Lowe's Fernandez Acura driven by Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz took top green honors in the American Le Mans Series prototype class as winner of the annual Michelin Green X Challenge for finishing highest with the lowest environmental impact.
Gil de Ferran, Simon Pagenaud and their LMP Acura took the checkered flag in the prototype class at this past weekend's American Le Mans Series final at Laguna Seca, but the increasingly important 'green' flag was captured by another team of prototype Acura drivers.
Edmunds.com photo editor Kurt Niebhur was there to take in the race and filed this report for Green Car Advisor on the environmental aspect of the competition.
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Race for the Green
Racing and environmentalism might seem to run on different sides of the track, but the Michelin Green X Challenge just might have something to say about that.
Started in 2008, the Michelin Green X Challenge was formed by the tire maker in conjunction with a major racing series, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and the Society of Automotive Engineers International.
As a race within a race, the Green X Challenge awards points to cars - and drivers - based on four different criteria; releasing the least amount of CO2, displacing the least amount of petroleum, excelling in energy efficiency during a race weekend, and last, but by no means least, finishing position.
As testament to the fairness of the rules in both the ALMS and the Green X Challenge, the 2009 Season saw nine different cars from eight different teams representing five different manufacturers. All teams involved ran on E10 ethanol blended gasoline, E85R gasoline blended ethanol, GTL biodiesel or E10 with electric hybrid power.
For the 2009 season, the winners of the Michelin Green X Challenge were the #15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura, driven by Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz, in the Prototype category, and the #44 Flying Lizard Porsche, driven by Seth Neiman and Johannes Van Overbeek, in the GT category.
With the success of the Green X Challenge, as well as the focus these days on environmental responsibility, it came as no surprise that Michelin announced it would continue the challenge through the 2010 American Le Mans Series..
Kurt Niebuhr, Photo Editor
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Photo courtesy of ALMS
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