ALMS Wednesday notebook

The American Le Mans Series' television reach is expanding for the 2007 season. The Series recently reached agreements with SPEED Latin America and 7TV in Russia that will deliver "live" coverage of Series events into two of the largest international television markets in the world. The deal with SPEED Latin America means American Le Mans Series racing will be available to a further 3.3 million subscribers in Mexico, Central America, Columbia, Brazil and Argentina. Race telecasts will be distributed in both English and Spanish. 7TV is a major Russian terrestrial outlet that reaches 55 million Soviet households. Both new agreements mark a further expansion of what has become the most comprehensive international television package in all of motorsports including noteworthy distribution agreements in Europe, Latin America and Russia as well as a Greenlight-Television-based initiative that delivers race highlights and three different anthology programs to a worldwide audience of more than 500 million households. The Series also enjoys a relationship with MotorsTV, which broadcasts to an audience of more than 45 million viewers in 31 European countries and in four languages (English, French, German and Greek).

The American Le Mans Series and Shell have entered into another agreement in 2007 for Shell V-Power Diesel with GTL (Gas to Liquids) to be the Official Diesel Fuel of the American Le Mans Series. It will again be used to power Audi's R10 TDI two-car effort at Sebring and the 2007 season. The technology behind the fuel enabled the Audi R10 TDI to go greater distances between pit stops and still deliver great power, resulting in time benefits over similar gasoline-powered cars during an endurance race such as the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shell scientists created Shell V-Power Diesel to offer today's modern diesel driver a real choice at the pump. Shell V-Power is designed to continuously clean the precision fuel injections found in modern diesel engines to help them keep performing at their best. It is estimated that cars running on diesel fuel get 20-30 percent better fuel efficiency than gas-powered automobiles.

HANS recently donated four of its safety devices to the American Le Mans Series to use in its Media Car program for the 2007 season. The HANS device is a vital piece of protective equipment that significantly decreases the odds of a driver sustaining a disabling or fatal head and or neck injury. It will be worn by both the driver and media participant during Media Rides conducted at each race of the American Le Mans Series. IMSA, which sanctions the American Le Mans Series, was the first sanctioning body to mandate HANS devices for all drivers in all other series it sanctions – Star Mazda, Panoz GT Pro Series, IMSA GT3 Cup presented by Michelin, Formula BMW and IMSA Lites. The HANS device was co-developed in the early 1980s by former American Le Mans Series driver Jim Downing and his brother-in-law Dr. Robert Hubbard. The multipoint harness device is a carbon-fiber collar that is positioned on a driver's shoulders and connected to a driver's helmet by two flexible tethers that restrain the head and neck from snapping either forward or to the side during a wreck. ALMS PR