X-Prize testing gets under way

Italian auto racing champion Emanuele Pirro has just completed five laps around the Michigan International Speedway in the futuristic, silver bullet-like Very Light Car. He slows to a stop. The green flag waves and he’s off again, accelerating back up to a precise average speed of 45 mph.

Pirro, a five-time winner of Le Mans, continues driving in five-lap intervals around the massive 2-mile oval, all while officials from the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize monitor the vehicle’s fuel efficiency.