GREENVILLE, S.C.—Teams from China, Portugal and Canada submitted the three best designs for this year's Michelin Challenge Design competition, "Le Mans 2030: Design for the Win."
Thom Roach, vice president of original-equipment marketing for Michelin North America, called the quality of the winners' work "truly outstanding" and said they presented "highly innovative features" for the Le Mans race in the year 2030.
"We congratulate the winners for their thought-provoking, visually captivating designs for the world's greatest endurance race, Le Mans 24 Hours," he said.
Michelin collaborated with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest—the organizer of the 24-hour Le Mans race—on this year's competition.
Winners are:
First place: Tao Ni of Wuhu, China, for design entry "Infiniti Le Mans 2030";
Second place: Daniel Bacelar Pereira of Vila Real, Portugal, for "Bentley 9 Plus Michelin Battery Slick"; and
Third place: Kurt Scanlan of Toronto, Ontario, for "Cierzo C1."
The winning designs were selected from among more than 1,600 entries from 80 countries.
Besides the winners, the judging panel picked seven finalists and 10 honorable mentions whose designs can be viewed at www.michelinchallengedesign.com.
A video recapping the event through the eyes of the jury panel can be viewed on YouTube.
The first, second and third place winners were invited to attend the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) as guests of Michelin and were recognized during Michelin's annual private Designer's Reception, where they participated in a private portfolio review with members of the jury.
The first-place winner will be recognized at the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours race.
The finalists of the 2017 Michelin Challenge Design are:
Mehdi Alamdari and Vahid Shahvirdi of Victoria, Australia, for design entry "Audi R28;"
Carlos Eduardo de Carvalho of Sao Paulo, Brazil, for "Embraer P1 Phenom Hybrid with Michelin Tire Wings;"
Josh Gadomski of Caledon Village, Ontario, Canada, for "Hydracross;"
Guilherme Kataoka, Luiz Ortega and Marcelo Toledo of Sao Paulo, Brazil for "Bentley Speed X;"
Vruttant S. Phatak of Maharashtra, India, for "Neuraura;"
Vladislav Semenov and Maria Ryadno of St. Petersburg, Russia, for "Bugatti Wimille;" and
David Voltner of Zlin, Czech Republic, for "Citroën C030 LMP1."
"The Le Mans 24 Hours race has always been the theater of the greatest innovations for the motor car that are tried and tested during the mythical race for series production vehicles," said Pierre Fillon, president of Automobile Club de l'Ouest.
"The Michelin Challenge Design fits perfectly into our ongoing innovative process with Michelin, one of the Le Mans 24 Hours' historic partners."