American Le Mans Series Launches Green Racing Initiatives in Detroit

15 January, 2008 12:00:00

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The American Le Mans Series reaffirmed its position as motorsports' global leader in alternative fuels by announcing that it is partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy and SAE International to incorporate "green racing" principles into its 2008 racing season.

The American Le Mans Series will be the first motorsports series to meet the criteria for green racing being developed by these groups.

The ALMS also announced the creation of a series-wide “Green Racing Challenge.” The new competition will encourage manufacturers to introduce and develop green technologies and will be a key element of the Petit Le Mans 1000-mile endurance race on Oct. 4 at Road Atlanta. Details of the Green Racing Challenge award are under development and will be announced in the spring.

“The auto manufacturers competing in the American Le Mans Series have made it very clear that this is a direction and an overall initiative that is important to them,” said Scott Atherton, ALMS CEO. “The opportunity to formally align with the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and SAE International makes our platform very special and unique--to auto manufacturers and ultimately to consumers.”

The Chevrolet Corvette racing team
has pledged to run E85 ethanol in its
cars all season.
The only exception is at Le Mans due
to supply issues with E85.

Alternative fuels are not new to the series. Audi’s R10 turbo runs on zero-sulfur clean diesel and has competed for the last two seasons. Last year, the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council and VP Racing Fuels introduced E10 (10 percent ethanol, 90 percent gasoline) to all other manufacturers. This year, the series and its partners also will offer E85 to competitors in addition to E10; the E85 is a second-generation, cellulosic ethanol made from waste material (Competition, Dec. 3, 2007). Corvette Racing pledged to run on E85 all year (but not at Le Mans because of E85 supply issues), as has GT2-class Aston Martin team Drayson-Barwell.

While the ALMS is the first racing series to switch to cellulosic ethanol, the Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series began using E10 in 2006 and switched to 100 percent ethanol last season.

As a 'Green Racing' Series, the American Le Mans Series demonstrates performance, fuel efficiency and ecological impact.

American Le Mans Series rules also support the introduction of an electric hybrid race car and encourage manufacturers to develop new technologies (through racing) that can be applied to improve the automobiles being built for consumers. In addition to Audi, other auto marques that currently participate in the American Le Mans Series include Acura, Aston Martin, Corvette, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Mazda, Panoz, Porsche and Saleen.

The American Le Mans Series, with technical rules that not only allow but encourage manufacturers to develop cutting-edge innovations, has played an active role in the development of alternative automotive fuels. The competitive use of multiple alternative fuels such as bio and cellulosic ethanol, and zero-sulfur clean diesel has been achieved in conjunction with the automotive manufacturers that race in the American Le Mans Series.

The American Le Mans Series' 2008 season begins with the 56th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring March 15 at Sebring International Raceway. For the first time in history America's premier sports car endurance classic will feature teams that will all use clean diesel, E10 gasoline, or E85 ethanol.

[source: American Le Mans Series]