Michelin to present Total Performance Award at 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours race

The Michelin Total Performance Award will be introduced at the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours race that is set to take place on June in France. The said award seeks to speed up innovation in favor of not only performance on the racetrack but also in sustainable mobility.

To win the Michelin Total Performance Award, a team should succeed in fulfilling the five criteria relating to performance, longevity, and energy efficiency. When the five conditions are met, one million euros will be ploughed into the financing of research into sustainable mobility by an independent academic institute. The conditions are the following:

Criterion No. 1: Victory

The team must win the Le Mans 24 Hours outright.

Criterion No. 2: Performance over a single lap

The winning car must also post the fastest race lap.

Criterion No. 3: A new distance record

The winning crew must beat the race’s distance record. Since 2011, it has stood at 5,410km.

Criterion No. 4: Reduced fuel consumption

The winner must achieve a fuel consumption saving of at least 15 percent over the average amount of energy consumed by the LMP1 finishers in 2013.

Criterion No. 5: Low consumption of tires

The number of tires used by the winning crew during the race must not exceed nine sets.

“In the world of motorsport, Michelin is a technical partner which contributes to giving real meaning to the discipline. In accordance with this principle, and in association with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the Michelin Green X Challenge was introduced in 2009 as an integral part of endurance racing’s regulations. The objective of the challenge was to reward the sport’s most energy-efficient competitors. The Michelin Total Performance Award marks the next phase of the company’s responsible involvement in motorsport, from both the societal and environmental points of view,” said Pascal Couasnon, Michelin Motorsport Director.

In the same way that Michelin’s research specialists strive to combine seemingly irreconcilable performance-related qualities in a single tire as part of the Michelin Total Performance plan, Le Mans competitors will need to produce a comprehensive tour de force to win the Michelin Total Performance Award. “The idea is to reward a unique achievement based simultaneously on the notions of exceptional performance, longevity and energy efficiency,” said Olivier Vialle, Michelin Motorsport’s Marketing Director.