Porsche, GM Win ALMS Green Challenge World Debut

06 October, 2008 03:30:00

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Porsche with its Penske RS Spyder team and GM/Chevrolet with its Corvette Racing team will be remembered as the inaugural winners of the first ever Green Challenge at the American Le Mans Series' signature endurance race - Petit Le Mans - at Road Atlanta Saturday.

They earned the Green Challenge trophies in their respective prototype (Porsche) and GT (Corvette) classes. Each had the best score in class for overall performance, fuel efficiency (petroleum displaced) and environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions) over the 1,000-mile, 2.54-mile road course.

The award was created in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy and SAE International, the world's leading automotive engineering organization.(read more)

On hand to present each trophy were Margo T. Oge, the EPA's Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality; Pat Davis, DOE's leading official for vehicle technologies and renewable energy and efficiencies; and Dave Schutt, SAE International's COO and Executive Vice President.

General Motors and Porsche were the two winners of the
Green Challenge on Saturday at Road Atlanta.

The American Le Mans Series is the only major race series in the world in which all cars race on not one, not two, but three alternative 'street legal' fuels: clean sulfur-free diesel, E10 and cellulosic E85. "Street legal" refers to fuels that are virtually the same as the consumer purchases at the fuel station. An electric hybrid is scheduled to make its debut shortly, perhaps at the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, October 18.

Often viewed as the most sophisticated and technical racing series in the world in which technology transfers directly from the race car to the customer showroom car, the American Le Mans Series has become the global leader in green racing. The 11 automobile marquees that race in the Series - Audi, Acura, Aston Martin, BMW ('09), Corvette, Dodge, Porsche, Ferrari, Mazda, Panos and Ford - readily admit that the relevancy of the American Le Mans Series and its ability to create an environment to develop technologies is one of the primary reasons they race in the world's leading sports car series.

[source: American Le Mans Series]

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