With the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) heading into its tenth and final race of the year on Oct. 10 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the Michelin Green X Challenge is gearing up to crown its first season champions.
Through the course of the year, ALMS racers have competed in events ranging from 100 minutes to 12 hours on a wide range of circuits and in varied temperatures, elevations and weather conditions.
As a “race within the race” at every ALMS event, the Green X Challenge recognizes performance, energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact under a formula developed by the Argonne National Labs in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency. The racers run on E10 ethanol blended gasoline, E85R gasoline blended ethanol, GTL (natural gas to liquid) biodiesel or E10-electric hybrid power.
“It is very exciting,” says Silvia Mammone, Michelin’s motorsports manager, to have the challenge championships “going right down to the final race.” She notes that “the competition has grown as the season has progressed and we expect a terrific race here in Monterey to determine the first champions.”
Acura and Porsche have clinched the respective Prototype and GT category vehicle manufacturer titles; however, the team and driver championships are very much in play at the hilly, 2.238-mile circuit near Monterey, Calif.
Heading into the finale, the Lowe’s Fernandez Acura of LMP2 championship-winning Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz holds a narrow lead over the LMP1 championship-leading Patrón Highcroft Acura of David Brabham and Scott Sharp.
The Fernandez Acura earned the challenge’s prototype honors at St. Petersburg and Road America, while the Patrón Highcroft squad claimed the award at Mosport. The third Acura of de Ferran Motorsports stands third. The GTL low sulfur diesel fueled Audi R15 TDi also claimed a pair of wins in its two ALMS starts, the Twelve Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans.
In the GT category, all three full season Porsche 911 GT3 RSR entries have claimed challenge honors at least once.
The No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of GT2 championship leaders Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long have a pair of wins (Long Beach and Lime Rock Park), while teammates Seth Neiman, Darren Law and Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44 took the honor at the recent Petit Le Mans after switching from E10 to E85R fuel. The two cars are currently separated by just 14 points. The Farnbacher Loles Porsche has parlayed its award at Salt Lake City into a strong third spot in the standings heading into the season finale.
Despite a limited schedule, Corvette Racing’s two cars have also claimed four wins (Twelve Hours of Sebring, Mid-Ohio, Road America, Mosport) and currently stand in fourth and fifth place.
For more information, visit www.michelinman.com.
