SPEED Set for Petit Le Mans Broadcast

One of the premiere endurance races in North America will once again play out on SPEED’s multiple media platforms, as both SPEED and SPEEDtv.com will broadcast from picturesque Road Atlanta during the 2008 Petit Le Mans. On Oct. 2, six-and-a-half total hours of race coverage from the penultimate event of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season starts at 11 a.m. ET with the start of the 1,000-mile sports car classic.

Long time sports car play-by-play announcer Leigh Diffey will anchor this year’s coverage, as 1989 Trans-Am Series Champion Dorsey Schroeder and road racing veteran Calvin Fish provide color commentary from the booth. On pit road, former racers Brian Till and Chris Neville are set to be joined by sports car insider Jamie Howe to cover the many storylines throughout the weekend.

In addition, similar to this year’s coverage from the historic 12-hour race from Sebring, Fla., SPEED will host a Petit Le Mans special on Thursday, Oct. 2 starting at 7 p.m. ET. The show will originate pit side, previewing the race and providing a taste of on-track activity and off-track reaction as the race’s night practice session unfolds. Then, on Oct. 3, qualifying will be streamed live by SPEEDtv.com starting at 3:25 p.m. ET.

This will be the network’s 10th year of broadcast coverage from the race’s 11 years of existence.

“The Petit Le Mans special will celebrate the first 10 years of this great endurance race," said Rick Miner, SPEED SVP of Studio Production & Operations. “The show will also preview that Saturday’s race, especially with the great background of night practice where we’ll be able to interview drivers and get the impressions immediately after they leave the track."