Earlier this year, we saw the addition of a fourth fuel option to the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) when it was announced that Dyson Racing would be running bio-butanol in its Lola-Mazda coupe. This past weekend at Mid-Ohio, the Dyson car managed to score its first victory in the sixth race of the season in a nail-biter over the Honda-powered Highcroft ARX-01c.
While the Dyson Lola managed to snatch the overall victory by half a second, it only came in third in the Michelin Green X Challenge rankings for the LMP class behind the E10-fueled Highcroft machine and the E85-fueled Intersport Lola. As expected in GT, the Green Challenge results were dominated by cars running on cellulosic E85. The Flying Lizard Porsche 911 of Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long got their second Green wind of 2010 and continues to lead the standings ahead of the two Corvettes. Ten of the 12 cars in GT now run on the biofuel.
While the Dyson Lola managed to snatch the overall victory by half a second, it only came in third in the Michelin Green X Challenge rankings for the LMP class behind the E10-fueled Highcroft machine and the E85-fueled Intersport Lola. As expected in GT, the Green Challenge results were dominated by cars running on cellulosic E85. The Flying Lizard Porsche 911 of Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long got their second Green wind of 2010 and continues to lead the standings ahead of the two Corvettes. Ten of the 12 cars in GT now run on the biofuel.
[Source: American Le Mans Series]
PRESS RELEASE
HPD HIGHCROFT, FLYING LIZARD PORSCHE CLAIM MICHELIN GREEN X CHALLENGE HONORS AT MID OHIO
Repeat winners were the order of the day in the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge at Mid Ohio.
Finishing second in the overall race by 0.506 seconds and taking their second MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge win of the season were the E10 fueled HPD Highcroft Racing prototype and drivers David Brabham and Simon Pagenaud.
The Prototype category saw three different manufacturers, teams and fuels claim the top three positions as the winning E10 HPD Highcroft car prevailed over the E85R fueled Intersport Lola and the overall race winning Isobutanol fueled Mazda Lola of Dyson Racing.
"Highcroft have done a fantastic job in achieving great fuel economy without sacrificing performance," Pagenaud said. "The MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge is a great reward for the team and we are delighted to win it again. We're now leading the series standings which is great and we'd love to win more of these in the last three races. Our goal is to win the ALMS Championship and the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge championship," said Pagenaud.
There was also a repeat winner in the GT Category. The E85R fueled #45 Flying Lizard Porsche of Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long also scored their second GT win of the season. The win was the fifth of the 2010 season and third in the GT category for Porsche. Ten of the top GT Class entrants including the top Porsche, Ferrari, BMW and Corvette teams have all switched to E85R fuel in recent months.
"The competition for the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge continues to increase and development of new technologies and energies through ALMS competition continues to speed up as evidenced by the shift to E85R and the performance of the Isobutanol fueled car here," said Silvia Mammone, manager motorsports, Michelin.
ABOUT THE MICHELIN® GREEN X® CHALLENGE
The American Le Mans Series is the only series currently recognized as "Green Racing" by the U. S. Department of Energy; Environmental Protection Agency and SAE International.
All five energy sources identified as part of the United States government energy policy (E10 ethanol blended gasoline, E85R gasoline blended ethanol, GTL (natural gas to liquid) biodiesel, E10-electric hybrid power and Isobutanol gasoline) have been used in ALMS competition.
The trophies are presented to the respective Prototype and GT winners. The bases for the unique MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge trophies are made of rubber recycled from MICHELIN® GREEN X® labeled consumer tires.
ABOUT MICHELIN® GREEN X® TIRES
MICHELIN® GREEN X® labeled consumer tires are optimized for fuel economy by reducing their rolling resistance and weight without compromising other key performance factors such as traction, grip and tread wear. Each tire is marked with Michelin's "GREEN X®" symbol on the sidewall, indicating to consumers a level of increased fuel-efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions.
For over 18 years, Michelin has been dedicated to the research and development of energy-efficient tires and now, a complete line of fuel-efficient tires is available to fit the most immediate consumer needs.
Dedicated to the improvement of sustainable mobility, Michelin (www.michelin.com) designs, manufactures and sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy duty trucks, motorcycles and the space shuttle. The company also publishes travel guides, maps and atlases covering Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America employs approximately 20,900 and operates 18 major manufacturing plants in 16 locations.
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