MICHELIN® GREEN X® CHALLENGE REWARDS TODAY’S AND FUTURE GENERATIONS

Following the October 10 season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the Night of Champions acknowledged those teams and manufacturers that were the most proficient, reliable, and sustainable – not only during the Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón but throughout the entire 2009 10-race schedule.

Margo Oge, the Director of Transportation and Air Quality for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recognized those leading LMP and GT teams and manufactures who advanced the technologies of today in support of the future generations of tomorrow.

The following are the recipients of the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge award:

Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón:
LMP Team: No. 15, Lowe’s Fernandez Racing
Adrian Fernandez/Luis Diaz (E10)
GT Team: No. 44, Flying Lizard Motorsports
Seth Neiman/Johannes van Overbeek (E85)

MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge Season-Long Championship:
LMP Team: No. 15, Lowe’s Fernandez Racing
Adrian Fernandez/Luis Diaz (E10)
GT Team: No. 44, Flying Lizard Motorsports
Seth Neiman/Johannes van Overbeek (E85)

Green Challenge Season-Long Championship:
LMP Manufacturer: Acura
GT Manufacturer: Porsche    

Click here to view championship standings, team rankings and manufacturer rankings.

MANUFACTURER STANDINGS
LMP: Acura claimed the top steps in the season-long MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge manufacturer championship. Showcasing its energy efficient design and technology, the leading E10 Acura-backed team of Lowe’s Fernandez Racing took the checkered with 54 points in the championship-within-a-championship.

Its closest contenders were the Lola-AER with 160 points and Mazda with 164 points; thus proving that the Acura’s 2008 offseason research and 2009 testing and development prepared it to win 8-of-10 MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge competitions.

GT: Porsche concluded the 2009 season by clinching the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge manufacturer championship. Poised and ready at the drop of the green flag, the No. 45 Flying Lizard car piloted by Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, which had been leading the  GT category up to the season finale, was overtaken in the final two races by its sister car, the No. 44 Flying Lizard team of Seth Neiman and Johannes van Overbeek, due to its recent switch from E10 to E85 (during Petit Le Mans and the Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón).

Porsche claimed 83 points at season’s end with Chevrolet in a close second with 95 points and the Ford Panoz in third with 123 points.

TEAM STANDINGS
LMP: Acura’s optimal performance was pioneered by Lowe’s Fernandez Racing (LMP2) with 54 points; its two fellow LMP1 Acuras - Patrón Highcroft Racing with 67 points and de Ferran Motorsports with 93 points – finished out the podium celebrations.

With confetti flying, Acura swept the podium; Intersport Racing and Dyson Racing finished in fourth and fifth place in the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge team championships.

While Dyson Racing’s No. 20 held the fifth position in the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge team championship, it was probably the No. 16 car that brought the greatest green attention – in relation to its debut and testing of bio-butanol fuel starting at Petit Le Mans. Though the No. 16 was required to run in an unclassified status, the fuel revealed a more performance-based and efficient prototype on track, alerting competitors the benefits of bio-butanol fuel. 

GT: While the American Le Mans Series awarded the 2009 championship winning team of Bergmeister and Long in the No. 45 Flying Lizard car, it was the No. 44 team of Neiman and van Overbeek that overcame the odds and proved that performance is only part of the equation when achieving “green” status. To win the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge accolade, the No. 44 Flying Lizard focused on decreasing the amount of CO2 released during competition, and therefore placed E85 in its fuel tank, allowing the GT car to have a smaller environmental footprint and win by a margin of 5 points over its sister car.

Corvette Racing, while absent for two races of the 2009 season, was still able to climb the ranks and claim third and fourth in the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge team championship - the No. 3 claimed 95 points and the No. 4 claimed 107 points.

The final Porsche of Farnbacher Loles Racing completed the top-five with 110 points.

MONTEREY SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY PATRÓN RACE RECAP
For the first time in the history of the American Le Mans Series, the Series was able to expand its recognition by awarding overall LMP and GT MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge team and manufacturer champions.

While racing into darkness in Monterey, Calif., the 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit presented many drivers with consistent obstacles through varying track temperatures and elevation changes.

At the beginning of the race, teams and fans alike knew that this was going to be Gil de Ferran’s final race behind the wheel, only to return in 2010 as a team owner. De Ferran fulfilled his dream by going out on top in his ultimate race claiming wins in class and overall during the Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón.

Patrón Highcroft, though claiming second in class and third overall, walked away as overall champion in the 2009 season for LMP1.

In LMP2, Lowe’s Ferandez Racing won two competitions – the Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón for LMP2 as well as the LMP MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge team championship.

The GT2 class saw Porsche claiming accolades claimed by its No. 45 Flying Lizard - both in class after a wild finish and a 1.37-second victory margin over the No. 3 Corvette C6.R as well as in the Drivers’ Championship for 2009 - as well as by its No. 44 team in the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge Championship for the GT class.

The Challenge class returned to the grid with John Baker and Guy Cosmo winning for ORBIT Racing after Mitch Pagerey and Shane Lewis (Velox Motorsports) and Wesley Hoaglund and Bob Faieta (Gruppe Orange) were excluded during post-race tech inspections. Snow Racing’s Martin and Melanie Snow ended the season as the class’ driver champions.