(American Le Mans Series/Michelin)  The journey to the 2012 MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge championships ends with a 1000-mile test of high-speed performance as the 2012 American Le Mans Series finale gets underway at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans, October 20.

The nearly 10-hour chase on the hilly 2.54-mile circuit places an emphasis on aerodynamics, mechanical grip and engine efficiency as the manufacturers, teams and drivers search for the optimum balance of performance in their quest for speed and efficiency in the race and, simultaneously, in America’s premier environmental motorsports competition.

“The close fight for the MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge GT championship mirrors the level of competition in the series and the race itself,” said Silvia Mammone, Michelin motorsports manager.

PROTOTYPE CHAMPION
One of the two MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge championships has already been decided.  The Benicia, California-based Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Honda team, and drivers Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr, have parlayed four event wins and a trio of runners-up finishes into a 2012 MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge Prototype championship.

Clearly demonstrating the link between race performance and clean, fast and efficient environmental performance, all four of the Muscle Milk Honda team’s MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge wins came in combination with their overall race wins at Long Beach, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (Monterey), Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Canada) and Virginia International Raceway.

GT CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE LINE
In GT competition there is a different story. After gathering four race wins in nine starts, the #4 Corvette Racing of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner has locked up the ALMS manufacturer, team and driver titles, but sits third in a four-way fight for the MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge GT championship.

Corvette Racing teammates Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia and the #3 Corvette have four MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge award wins and lead the GT point standings by just a single point over the #55 BMW of Bill Auberlen and Jörg Müller, which has three award wins.

The #4 Corvette of Milner and Gavin finished in second place five times this season and sits only another four MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge points back, while the #01 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari of Johannes van Overbeek and Scott Sharp is fourth with two award wins.

“The top four GT cars in the MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge GT championship all use the second-generation E85R fuel, so their Clean scores will likely be very close. Any advantage in race speed, efficiency or even the amount of fuel taken on the last pit stops may well determine the championship,” said Mammone.

The scoring formula for the MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge is developed and overseen by the Green Racing steering team comprised of representative of the Department of Energy, EPA, SAE International and the IMSA sanctioning body.  Each car is scored based on Clean, Fast and Efficient performance measures.   READ MORE   Download chart