Audi and Porsche win Michelin GreenX Challenge at Petit Le Mans
Audi R15 TDI leading Petit Le Mans - click above for high res gallery
The American Le Mans Series ran half of its annual flagship race this past weekend at a rain-saturated Road Atlanta track in Georgia. The race marked the first anniversary of the inauguration of the ALMS Green Challenge and in spite of the truncated race length, organizers announced winners in both the prototype and GT categories and the winners all came from the Volkswagen Group.
Among the prototypes, the number 1 Audi R15 TDI led for more than four hours until shortly before the race was red flagged. However, the combination of the diesel's fuel efficiency and performance gave the Audi sufficient points to be declared the Michelin GreenX Challenge winner. Among the GT cars, several problems hurt the performance of the cellulosic E85-fueled Corvettes. Thus, the Flying Lizard team's Porsche 911s had the best combination of carbon footprint and performance. With only one race remaining at Laguna Seca, the Porsches are strong contenders to win the season's green challenge championship.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Laurens 1:57PM (9/28/2009)
Much is decided by the rules, nevertheless, diesels are here to stay. Thermal efficiency...
Reply
why not the LS2LS7? 2:36PM (9/28/2009)
GTL has terrible wheel-to-well efficiency, the GreenX challenge uses Diesel's energy to produce factor as an approximation for that of the GTL fuel the Audis and Peugeots use, and that's a complete load of bunk.
Reply
wxman 6:30PM (9/28/2009)
@why not -
Are you sure you're not thinking about CTL (coal-to-liquids)? It's my understanding that GTL (gas-to-liquids) has about the same WTW CO2 emissions as petroleum diesel.
I also recall that Audi used "a small amount" of BTL (biomass-to-liquids) in at least the 24-hour race at Lemans last year. Not sure if they're still using it, but BTL has a huge GHG emissions benefit compared to petrodiesel.