The tenth and final race of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season provided a fitting test to determine the event winners and the first MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge season champions.

The Lowe’s Fernandez Acura and drivers Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz claimed their third MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge Prototype category win of the year and eighth race win in the LMP2 class to clinch the 2009 MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge Prototype team and driver championships.  The victory was the eighth for Acura in ten events.

Relentlessly chasing the larger, more powerful LMP1 class Acura prototype of race winner Gil de Ferran, up and around the hilly 2.238 mile Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca circuit, Fernandez crossed the line just 0.662 seconds behind the larger more powerful LMP1 winner in the four hour race.
 
“The MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge is a great way for us to be an example to everyone to be more energy efficient,” said Fernandez. “Our cars feature a lot of technology. Both Gil and I were trying to be more efficient and save fuel but still maximize our speed to avoid another pit stop in the final laps. We are very proud and happy to get this championship award.”

The #44 Flying Lizard Porsche of Seth Neiman and Johannes van Overbeek scored a second MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge victory in as many starts since switching to E85R ethanol fuel. The victory leapfrogged them ahead of their teammates in the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche in season rankings to claim the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge GT category award. The victory was the fifth of the season for Porsche.  

“This was an exciting end to the first season of MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge competition,” said Silvia Mammone, Michelin Motorsports manager. “In ten races, we saw nine different cars from eight different teams post wins for five different manufacturers, and they won using three different fuels.”

Through the course of the season, the ALMS manufacturers and teams competed on a wide variety of circuits ranging from 1.5 miles to over 4.0 miles long. The races ranged from 100 minutes to 12 hours.

Prior to the race Michelin joined with the ALMS and members of the “Green Racing working group” to announce that Michelin will support the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge awards again in 2010.

ABOUT THE MICHELIN® GREEN X® CHALLENGE
The MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge, developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and SAE International is a race within the race at all 2009 American Le Mans Series events.

All ALMS 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.  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.

The MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge 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.