Porsche and Chevrolet shared top honors Saturday in the first Green Challenge at the American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta.
While Audi won its ninth straight Petit Le Mans with a diesel-powered R10 TD1 driven by Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro, a Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder won the Green Challenge's prototype class and a Chevrolet Corvette was tops in its GT category.
The Porsche and Corvette each had the best scores in class for overall performance, fuel efficiency (petroleum displaced) and environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions) in the 1,000-mile race.
Corvette Racing's entry, co-driven by Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows, had the low score of 20.391 among the GT cars. Pat Long, Sascha Maassen and Emmanuel Collard piloted the Penske's No. 6 car to the lowest prototype score at 30.690.
The award was created in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy and SAE International, the world's leading automotive engineering organization. The results were calculated with a formula using data received from new telemetry on the cars.
The ALMS is the only major race series in the world in which all cars race on street legal alternative fuels, including clean sulfur-free diesel, E10 and cellulosic E85. An electric hybrid prototype is scheduled to make its ALMS debut, possibly as soon as the season finale Oct. 18 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.
``We have begun something that will have a profound effect on the motor sports and automotive industry,'' said Scott Atherton, president and CEO of the ALMS. ``When you get the type of support we have had from the highest levels of the EPA and DOE, you know that you are involved in something that can really make a difference.
``Fuel efficiency and energy independence are two of the most relevant topics we all face today and the American Le Mans Series is prepared to lead the way.''
The Green Challenge will continue for the entire 2009 ALMS schedule.
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RECOVERING NICELY: Team Australia co-owner Craig Gore is recovering from emergency surgery in a London hospital, but is expected to miss the non-points IndyCar Series race Oct. 26 at Surfers Paradise in Queensland, Australia.
The 41-year-old Aussie entrepreneur began experiencing symptoms last week, shortly after arriving in London for business meetings. An examination revealed a perforated bowel and Gore was rushed into surgery.
Gore owns the car driven by Will Power and sponsored by Aussie Vineyards in the IndyCar Series. He also missed what he considers his home race - then part of the now-defunct Champ Car World Series - last year because of an inner-ear problem that cropped up during a routine helicopter flight.
``I just can't believe this is happening, but I'm on the fast track to recovery and looking forward to a speedy return,'' Gore said.
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BACK TO WORK: American Le Mans Series driver/team owner Paul Drayson will continue to race after returning to the British government as science minister.
Before taking a leave of absence to join the ALMS as co-owner of the Drayson-Barwell racing team, Drayson served as minister for defense procurement and in the House of Lords.
``I'm really delighted as this is my dream job,'' Drayson said. ``Motor sport is just the sort of high-tech, high-growth industry that the British excel at. It sets a great example of how the UK can lead the world in applying science and engineering to win.''
He said Prime Minister Gordon Brown is ``fully supportive'' of his racing activities.
Drayson teamed with Jonny Cocker and Darren Turner for a ninth-place GT2 finish in the Drayson-Barwell Aston Martin Vantage GT2 in last Saturday's Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
The team has been racing in the ALMS since round three at Long Beach, Calif., in April. The former British GT Championship-winning team scored a season-best eighth in GT2 in August in the Grand Prix of Mosport in Ontario.
