American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans Green Challenge Features Green Racing Protocols
October 01, 2008
The American Le Mans Series' Green Challenge™, on October 4 at Petit Le Mans (Road Atlanta), will be the first automotive race to use the highly anticipated Green Racing Protocols. These were developed by a history-making partnership of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), SAE International, and the American Le Mans Series.
Officials from DOE, EPA and SAE International will present the first-ever Green Racing Challenge Award at the annual endurance classic.
"The U.S. Department of Energy is pleased to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and SAE International in awarding the first ever Green Racing Challenge Championship Award," said John Mizroch, Acting Assistant Secretary for DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. "Green Racing, and our partnership, represents a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate that efficient automotive technologies can meet the performance requirements of even the most demanding customers."
In 2006, members of the partnership and several automotive industry leaders came together to form the Green Racing Working Group (GRWG) to develop the Green Racing Protocols. These protocols call for a joint DOE/EPA/SAE International awards program to incentivize, recognize, and reward automotive industry leaders that go the farthest and fastest with the smallest environmental footprint for energy used. Announced earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show, the American Le Mans Series became the first automotive racing series to adopt the Green Racing Protocols.
DOE, EPA and SAE International will present the overall Green Racing Challenge Championship Award on October 4 to the automotive powertrain manufacturer of the car that achieves the lowest Green Racing Challenge score, in both the Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Grand Touring (GT) classes. The Green Challenge Award is based on a "green" score which takes into account the amount of fuel consumed during the race, distance (number of laps) completed, speed, energy efficiency, and the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the race. To achieve the best "green" score cars will use renewable fuels, such as cellulosic E85, E10, and ULSD with some GTL components (a type of clean diesel), multiple propulsion systems, and regenerative energy technologies.
In 2009, the American Le Mans Series will incorporate the Green Racing Protocols into a season-long Green Racing Challenge Championship. The award will be given to the team with the lowest Green Racing Challenge score in both the LMP and GT classes. Each American Le Mans Series team will start the season with the maximum number of points available for all the scheduled races (i.e. 250 maximum for 2008). When teams win Green Challenge Championship points, the points will be deducted from the total. The Le Mans Prototype and GT teams with the lowest total at the season's end will win the season-long Green Racing Challenge Championship Award.
The 11th Annual Petit Le Mans will be held October 1 – 4 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA. The 1,000-mile American Le Mans Series signature race will start at 11:15 am. Tune in to SPEED for live coverage of the event starting at 11 am EDT. ALMS radio (www.americanlemans.com) will stream the race live from 1:00 pm to 6:30 pm when SPEED airs other programming The race is also carried live on XM Satellite Radio, Channel 166 (11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. to finish of the race) and the Armed Forces Radio Network in its entirety.
