The MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge season champions in the ALMS' LMP and GT class for 2011 will receive an invitation the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans.

There is more than one way to win the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, in fact there are at least two ways to win.

Teams can win the 12 Hour Race on the track through their speed, pit work, and clever race strategy, or they can win the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge by being the cleanest, fastest, most efficient cars on the track. Often the race winners are both.

“Racing is all about efficiency,” said Scot Elkins, vice president of the International Motor Sports Association, the sanctioning body for the American Le Mans Series. “Being fast and efficient is not an ‘either/or’ proposition, teams constantly strive to be both fast and efficient.”

Since its ALMS introduction at Sebring at the 2009 running of the 12 Hour race, 16 of the 38 MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge winners have also won their respective class on the race track.

The technical freedom provided within the series rules and its acceptance of alternative fuels and innovative technologies has made the ALMS the global leader in green racing and the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge the top environmental award at every race.

In addition to the American Le Mans Series, the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge is now part of the fabric at every Asian and European Le Mans Series event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup championship.

Night at Le Mans in 2010. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

A major new prize will see the 2011 MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge ALMS Prototype and GT season champions earn automatic invitations for entry to the 2012 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“A guaranteed invitation to entry at Le Mans is a big prize and one that will keep the competition top of mind all season long for manufacturers, teams and fans alike,” said Elkins, a member of the Green Racing steering team that oversees the awards.

The steering team also includes representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and SAE International.

All five fuels and energies in the U.S. national energy policy (E10; E85R; isobutanol; GTL-diesel and electric hybrid) are approved for and have been used in American Le Mans Series competition.

This story appears in the Sebring issue of The Alley, Michelin’s trackside publication. It is available as a PDF online at michelinracingusa.com and around the track.