24 Hours of Le Mans

Horag Racing earns a spot at 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours

© Planetlemans – Gabriel Portos

The fifth and final round of the 2008 Le Mans Series at Silverstone, Great Britain, today saw HORAG RACING clinch the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge to earn itself a guaranteed entry for next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours . Last March, the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest), the organisers of the Le Mans Series and Michelin jointly announced their intention to run the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge for the second consecutive year, with an entry for the 2009 Le Mans Hours going to the winner.

The objective of the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge is to reward those teams which succeed in combining performance with energy efficiency during the races that make up the Le Mans Series calendar. An Energy Efficiency Index is calculated after each event for each car, irrespective of category, leading to the publication of a classification at the end of the season. The formula employed this year to calculate the Energy Efficiency Index was a straightforward relationship between the car’s average speed (excluding time spent in the pits) and its average fuel consumption during the race.

Frédéric Henry-Biabaud (Director, Michelin Compétition): “Michelin supports this energy efficiency challenge because we are acutely aware of the growing importance of the different parameters that contribute to saving energy. Some of the evolutions we have introduced regarding tyre technology have served to enhance the range of the competing cars by helping to reduce fuel consumption. The teams compete to try to run the longest stints possible between fuel stops, and we constantly strive to reduce the amount of energy that is lost due to the rolling resistance of the tyres. This challenge enables Michelin and the manufacturers to progress in a domain that will go on to be beneficial to the public at large when using their vehicle every day.”

Jean-Claude Plassart (President, Automobile Club de l’Ouest): “To begin with, the ACO would like to congratulate HORAG RACING for their performance throughout the current season which has earned them an automatic selection for the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours. The energy issue has become a part of all our day to day lives and this classification, which rewards the combination of high performance and careful attention to the way energy is used, mirrors the ACO’s traditional approach to this question. We have always supported the use of new technologies and we have every intention to carry on doing so in the future.”