Acura, Corvette win Michelin Green X Challenge

Aug. 10, 2009

 The new Corvette Racing GT2 cars produced their first victory as the No. 3 Corvette of Le Mans winners Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen parlayed a second place in the GT2 race into their second victory in the Michelin Green X Challenge. Corvette Racing had earlier claimed GT honors at the season opening event at Sebring with their previous GT1 class entry.

“I think all fans of sports car racing now know there is going to be some spectacular GT racing in the American Le Mans Series. Not only did we see a tremendous display of great planning and execution today, but also we saw Corvette win the Michelin Green X Challenge yet again. That is emblematic of the new General Motors – fast, mean, lean, and green,” said Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing program manager.

Overall race winners Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud in the de Ferran Motorsports Acura led an  Acura sweep of the top three positions in both the race and in the Prototype category of the Michelin Green X Challenge.

Fuel mileage played a key role in the LMP2 class victory for the Lowe’s Fernandez Acura team, which finished third overall, and second in the Prototype category of the Michelin Green X Challenge.

“Hats off to Acura for not only creating a fantastic sports car but a car that can both win races and the Michelin Green X Challenge,” said de Ferran. “This win at Mid-Ohio is like a home race for us. There are four Honda plants within a 50-mile radius of the track and we had a lot of fans and they are proud of winning the race and winning the Michelin Green X Challenge.”

“Once again, we saw the direct linkage between performance and efficiency,” said Silvia Mammone, Michelin Motorsports manager.