GREEN X = Clean & Fast
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News From The American Le Mans Series - Long Beach 2012 TO BREAK READY THROUGH GREEN X = CLEAN & FAST www.michelinalley.com 2 EXTREME SPEED Ready2 Breakthrough THE TWIttER POST for the Long Beach GT battle may read like this: depth. The Corvette, BMW and ESM–RTB@LBGP. Porsche teams can react and move Translation: Extreme Speed the ball forward with such speed and Motorsports, the Florida based Patrón grace. That’s really what you are up Ferrari team of former ALMS, Indycar, against. You’ve got to have a team that Trans Am and Sports Car champion has that ability in order to keep pace. Scott Sharp (pictured right), is ready to In our case, it is more than keeping breakthrough at Long Beach. pace, it is catching up. That’s what Led by Derek Granison and Robin we’ve had to do these last couple of Hill, and featuring Sharp and former years.” Flying Lizard ace Johannes van So, what would the first win for Overbeek, with Guy Cosmo and Patron ESM mean to the team and entire exec Ed Brown in the sister car, the organization? brilliant green and black Ferrari 458 “We’re so close to a win, we can Italias have been steadily working up taste it,” said Sharp. “When we win, it the mountain that is the American Le will be huge. There has been so much Mans Series GT category. great attitudes. Each guy in his position effort behind this team, the man- The team has made it to the podium is super talented with great experience. hours that have gone into this process twice in the past dozen races, with “I think we have a pretty incredible since we started this team back in Sharp and van Overbeek taking second cast. It is just getting the team pushing October 2009. It started as an idea and at the 2010 Petit Le Mans and third at together to maximize ourselves, that’s we built it through. I think it will be last fall’s Monterey race. There is one what it boils down to. We finally got the very rewarding. step, albeit a big one, to take. chance to develop one car for an entire “They say the first win is the “This is the year for us and we really year and not be waiting for a new car. toughest, from there they start need to step up,” said Sharp. “This is the “We have really raised our pace from flowing, and I really feel that is what year we need to start winning races. last year. Every area of the program, will happen for us,” said Sharp. “I don’t think there is racing like this whether it is performance, reliability, To beat the best from BMW, anywhere else in the world right now. teamwork – it all has to be raised, and Corvette, Porsche, Aston Martin and It is a high bar that we set our sights I think that’s what you’ve got to do to Lotus would make a Long Beach on, but I think we’re getting it into really have a chance to win in the GT victory especially sweet. With Patron perspective. Each person on our team is class. as title sponsor of the ALMS race here, a solid, all-star type of guy. They all get “The GT class is full of world-class Sharp and his team would need not go along well, work their tails off and have drivers. You have teams with enormous far to find a victory party. GREEN X 3 AS THE MICHELIN® GREEN X® electronics and vehicle dynamics, energy, and the car’s on-track speed Challenge rolls into its fourth including tires and smaller, more (Fast) adjusted for weight (Efficiency). season of competition, the world’s efficient engines. One of the objectives of green racing premier environmental motorsports Energy recovery and storage systems is to speed the development to market competition is seeing something and power sources including electric of new technologies and energies. few, except its leaders and vehicle wheel motors, flywheels, various drive That in fact is a two-way street, with manufacturers, expected. systems and energy storage are also everything from direct injection to lower Top endurance cars in the starting to come into play in ALMS and energy lighting and air conditioning to American Le Mans Series are quickly Le Mans competition. longer-lasting tires increasing efficiency becoming cleaner, more energy According to the Green Racing and performance of both race and efficient and FASTER. Working Group, which oversees the street cars. The MICHELIN GREEN X MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge, cars The 2011 MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge recognizes the Prototype competing in the ALMS and at Le Challenge Prototype championship- and GT (production-based) cars that Mans are much cleaner and using winning Dyson Racing Mazda team achieve the best scores for “clean, considerably less oil-based energy than uses a turbocharged four-cylinder fast, and efficient” performance at just a few years ago. At one 2011 ALMS engine racing on isobutanol bio-fuel. each ALMS race. race, the oil consumption was nearly The ALMS GT championship– “Clean and efficient are not barriers 40 percent less than at the same race in winning BMW competes using a to fast--they are the keys to going 2008. second-generation cellulosic E85R fuel, fast,” said Silvia Mammone, Michelin Comprised of representatives from the choice of several top contenders motorsports manager. the U.S. Department of Energy, the or recent winners including Chevrolet “To be fast you must also be Environmental Protection Agency, Corvette, Porsche, and Ferrari. Past efficient. There are signs everywhere SAE International and the ALMS- winners also include Audi, Aston that cars, including ALMS race cars, sanctioning International Motor Sports Martin, Honda and Acura. are becoming cleaner, faster and Association, the group places electronic “There are several examples of more efficient,” said Mammone. monitors on board all professional new technologies that will appear Breakthrough The days when relying on raw category Prototype and production- throughout the 2012 season here in the horsepower alone to deliver based GT entries. The formula tracks ALMS and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” increased performances are long energy usage, the well-to-wheel said Mammone. since passed. Efficiency, drivability, environmental impact (Clean) of the and total performance come from improved aerodynamics, Cleaner + More Efficient = Faster! 4 POINTS BATTLE THE 2012 AMERIcan Le Mans means every lap, every pass, every HPD at Sebring ultimately went for Series season is just one race old, but position takes on added importance. naught. the pressure is already on for a pair of That is especially true for a pair of After dominating the ALMS action ALMS racing’s premiere teams as the top contenders who left the Sebring for nearly 11 hours, the fueling system series heads into Long Beach. season opener disappointed. failed in the final hour. The shortest race of the ALMS An excellent debut performance for That opened the door for the season, at two hours, Long Beach the new Muscle Milk Pickett Racing archrival Dyson Racing to claim the 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, T4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, Lizard’s 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, LONG 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, road home 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 24, 20, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, THE FlyING LIZARD Motorsports Porsche team finds itself Ferrari flag with teammates Ed Brown and Guy Cosmo.