Racers running on Michelin tires swept the top seven positions overall and all three American Le Mans Series (ALMS) class victories at the rain-shortened 12th Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Facing a difficult variety of damp, wet, drying and dry conditions, the competition was red-flagged just before the mid-point of its scheduled 1000-mile/10-hour distance because of heavy rain and lightning.
Drivers Franck Montagny and Stephane Sarrazin in the No. 08 Peugeot Sport 908HDI FAP turbo diesel were declared the winner. It marked the first major American race won by a French manufacturer in nearly 90 years while ending Audi’s nine-year Petit Le Mans win streak.
It was the 11th consecutive win at Petit Le Mans for Michelin-equipped racers.
Scoring its second victory of the year and the biggest in Mazda’s ALMS history, the Dyson Racing Mazda Lola of Butch Leitzinger, Marino Franchitti and Ben Devlin claimed LMP2 class honors. The win, the first at Petit Le Mans for Mazda, makes it the first Japanese manufacturer to have won both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans.
“Petit Le Mans has become a major car race worldwide. It has the right track, the right distance, the drama and the right mix of cars and drivers,” says Rob Dyson.
The event “was a great test of teams, drivers, and technologies,” says Karl Koenigstein, Michelin’s ALMS technical team leader. “The changing conditions had everyone on edge, and the close competition puts extra pressure on every lap, every pass and every decision. It was major challenge to keep the cars matched up to the track as the conditions went from wet to dry and back to wet.”
The GTL low sulfur diesel Audi R15 TDI of Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello finished third overall on the track and narrowly prevailed over archrival Peugeot to earn the “race within the race” Michelin Green X Challenge Prototype honors.
The entries compete with E10 ethanol blended gasoline; E85R gasoline blended ethanol, GTL (natural gas to liquid) biodiesel or E10-electric hybrid power. Teams win by delivering the best overall performance, fuel efficiency, and smallest environmental impact throughout the race. Using a formula developed by the Argonne National Labs that includes over 30 different factors, real time standings are posted on timing and scoring screens throughout the race.
“Seeing manufacturers like Audi, Porsche and Mazda; energy producers like Shell and BP, and teams like Audi, Flying Lizard Motorsports and Dyson Racing bringing new technologies forward is exactly what the Michelin Green X Challenge was created to recognize and encourage,” says Silvia Mammone, Michelin’s motorsports manager.
For more information, visit www.michelinman.com.
