GREENVILLE, S.C. (October 6, 2022) — One of the most significant performances at the big International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) WeatherTech Championship last week at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta took place in the paddock rather than on the 2.54-mile track in the 10-hour race.
Jackson Motorsports Marketing, the exclusive MICHELIN® race tire distributor for IMSA, powered the entire 27,500-square-foot MICHELIN tire workshop area at the 25th Anniversary Motul Petit Le Mans using a large 24 kW battery, recharged as needed by a single 35 kW diesel generator.
“Rather than running truck generators and a 100 kW diesel auxiliary generator, we just used the battery, powered by a single 35 kW generator to power everything,” said Scott Taylor, executive director of motorsports for Jackson.
“We had two complete tire-fitting lines, with mounting and balancing machines, computers, lighting, connectivity, our pit lane RFID readers, and three technical, marketing and operations trailers, including radio charging, flat screens, heating and cooling systems all working seamlessly throughout the entire four-day race week,” said Taylor.
Dramatic Results
The Greenville, South Carolina, company brings a motorsports culture to marketing and events.
“Racing is about improving efficiency and performance. Our data from IMSA’s official partner, VP Fuels, shows that we reduced our WeatherTech® paddock generators’ diesel fuel consumption from 702 gallons here last year to just 50.43 gallons this time around,” said Arch Cline, Jackson’s IMSA race operations director.
“We reduced our generator use from 100.3 hours in 2021 to 12.3 hours in 2022. That is a reduction of 87.7 percent in emissions,” said Cline, who worked in close collaboration with Joe Ignacio, Michelin motorsports operations manager, equipment supplier Sunbelt Rentals and IMSA to conduct the full pilot trial at the final race of the 2022 season.
Lighting the area were four solar-powered, trailer-mounted light towers to illuminate the tire drop-off and pickup areas for IMSA teams and tire carts.
The figures do not include a separate generator used for the air compressors used in 2021 and 2022 tire mounting.
Leading the way
“Michelin and IMSA are leaders in sustainability in motorsports,” said Darrell Jackson, president and CEO of Jackson, the 35-year-old, South Carolina-based company.
There are 18 automakers in IMSA competition, and the IMSA Green program works in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and SAE International to improve sustainability.
“We are researching and finding ways to continuously improve sustainability and reduce our footprint. We have already taken measures to reduce our number of transporters and reduce or eliminate generator use where possible,” said Jackson.
The next two events will provide major tests for Jackson and Michelin as they prepare for the two longest races of the IMSA season, the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, followed by the mid-March “Super Sebring” doubleheader featuring both the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the 10-hour World Endurance Championship races.
“Just like the race teams, we are constantly working to be innovative and more efficient—we just have a different scorecard,” said Jackson.
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