Audi, Corvette Claim Victories In Inaugural Michelin® Green X® Challenge At Sebring

Proving their race cars to be both faster and greener than the competition, Audi and Corvette scored the prototype and GT race wins respectively while winning the first MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge awards at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, the opening event of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season.

Making its first race appearance, the clean, low sulfur diesel powered Audi R15 TDI, prevailed in an epic 12-hour battle against their arch-rivals from Peugeot to claim the race victory while also using less energy than their diesel powered rivals. The pairs of cars from the two teams exchanged the lead 23 times in the 12-hour race that produced new records for race distance and average speed.

On the GT front, the E85 fueled Corvette C6.R entries from Corvette Racing team delivered a convincing 1-2 finish both in the GT1 class of the Twelve Hours of Sebring and in the GT Category of the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge. Building on their success in the inaugural Green Challenge last October at Petit Le Mans, Corvette earned sixth and seventh place finishes overall.

“Today’s race was the final appearance by Corvette Racing in the GT1 category at Sebring, and we ran an absolutely perfect race with cellulosic E85 ethanol fuel,” said Steve Wesoloski, GM Racing Road Racing Group manager. “We accomplished our mission by winning the race and the MICHELN® Green X® Challenge and demonstrated Chevrolet’s technical capabilities.”

“Seeing Audi and Corvette both win the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge and the race itself proves that you can be fast, efficient and clean, said Silvia Mammone, Michelin motorsports manager. ”Fast and ’Green’ are not mutually exclusive concepts. As we saw today, great technology and innovation can produce both" said Mammone.

The MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge is a race within the race at every 2009 ALMS event.

Created jointly by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S, Department of Energy, SAE International, and the American Le Mans Series, the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge uses a formula developed by the Argonne National Laboratories to rank all cars in the race according to speed, distance covered, the amount of energy used, greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted, and petroleum displaced.

Dedicated to the improvement of sustainable mobility, Michelin designs, manufactures and sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks, motorcycles and the space shuttle. The company also publishes travel guides, hotel and restaurant guides, maps and road atlases. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America (www.michelinman.com) employs more than 22,600 and operates 19 major manufacturing plants in 17 locations.