First Michelin Green X Challenge win for Ford

A small independent team owned by Michigan's David and Andrea Robertson took a surprise podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and team drivers David Murry and Anthony Lazzaro matched that today, then added the GT category win in the Michelin Green X Challenge, America's premier environmental motorsports competition.

Ford joins Acura, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Honda, Aston Martin, Peugeot, Porsche and Lola/Judd as winners of the award.

Taking the Prototype honors for the second consecutive race was the Muscle Milk Aston Martin, which finished second in the race. Its 19-second differential nearly matched the winner's speed, but the car used less fuel than the race winner.

Overseen by the Green Racing steering team comprised of representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and SAE International. The Michelin Green X Challenge award measures the environmental performance of Prototype and GT cars using three scoring factors; "Clean, Fast and Efficient"

The "Clean" factor is based upon the amount of oil used and the greenhouse gas emitted by the cars. The "Fast" factor is based upon the car's speed to cover the race distance and the "Efficiency" factor is the energy needed to complete the winner's race distance adjusted for the car's mass. Different fuels provide different scores in the "Clean" or "Efficiency" measures. The race-winning Mazda uses Isobutanol; the Muscle Milk Aston Martin E10; and the Robertson Racing Ford GT races on E85 racing fuel.

"We congratulate Ford, the Roberston team and the Muscle Milk Aston Martin team on their victories in the Michelin Green X Challenge today," said Silvia Mammone, manager motorsports, Michelin North America. "The push for greater efficiency on the track and in the technologies for the street is what makes the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans and the Michelin Green X Challenge increasingly important."

Winners of the season long championships earn automatic invitations to the 2012 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.