Michelin’s Green Race
Energy efficiency and environmental friendliness are not the first thoughts that come to mind when one thinks of automobile racing.
Michelin North America wants to change that.
The Greenville-based company is sponsoring the Michelin Green X Challenge Award, debuting at today’s 12 Hours of Sebring race in Florida.
The Challenge will hand out an award at each American Le Mans Series race this year, said Silvia Mammone, motorsports and sponsorship manager for the Michelin brand. The award will be offered in both the prototype, or specially designed and built cars, and the GT, or basically street cars, division.
The Challenge, a “race within a race,” uses a system ranking all cars according to the amount of energy used, the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted and amount of petroleum displaced. Argonne National Laboratory, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , the Department of Energy, SAE International and the ALMS created the system used to calculate the criteria during each race.
Michelin has been involved in the racing series for years by providing tires for many of the teams — nine in 2009, she said.
The series was recognized by the EPA, the DOE and SAE International in January 2008 as the only motorsports entity to meet all their criteria for green racing. Each car competes with one of four “street legal” fuels — E10 gasoline, cellulosic E85, sulfur-free diesel fuel or gas-electric hybrids, Mammone said.
“Stretching fuel in competition wins races,” said Scott Clark, chief operating officer of Michelin Americas Small Tires. “Lowering fuel consumption for consumers stretches wallets at a time when saving money and saving the planet are both top concerns.”
Also, participating in the series “is a great way for us to showcase the technology we have in racing,” Mammone said. “Those technologies transcend racing to help consumers.
“By measuring and assessing new technologies in the heat of one of the most competitive racing series worldwide, government agency officials and manufacturers hope to speed the development of new energies and technologies for anxious and increasingly receptive consumer markets.”
At the end of the series, the overall winner will be determined on the basis of points. Each vehicle will be given the maximum number of points per race and then points will be deducted based on the criteria for the awards. The team with the lowest number of points will be the overall winner of the Michelin Green Challenge.
Michelin Group created Challenge Bibendum 11 years ago as a showcase for clean vehicles. It also created the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge at the 24 Hours of Le Mans three years ago. Last year, that award was extended to all European-based Le Mans races.
The company also has a line of Green X tires, designed to increase fuel efficiency in passenger cars and light trucks.
By Jenny Munro • BUSINESS WRITER
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