“The 24 Hours of Le Mans certainly is one of the crown jewels of motor sport,” said SPEED President Scott Ackerson. “Together with our coverage of the Daytona 24, this deal cements SPEED as the continued home for the world’s premiere sports car endurance racing.”

When SPEED rolled out its first-ever programming lineup on New Year’s Eve 1995, live coverage from Le Mans certainly was one of the highlights, and on June 16 of this year, the 17-year relationship continues with SPEED’s live coverage of the 80th running of the world’s oldest sports car endurance race.

“Le Mans has taken on the aura of one of a select group of sporting events that belongs to the entire world,” said former racer and SPEED analyst David Hobbs, who competed 20 times in the event. “It belongs with such events as Wimbledon and the Indy 500.”

In its book, The 10 Best of Everything – An Ultimate Guide for Travelers, National Geographic named the 24 Hours of Le Mans the “No. 1 Sporting Event.” To see the complete list, please visit: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/sporting-events/

In addition to the new SPEED television deal, 20th Century FOX is developing a project based on A.J. Baime’s best-selling book Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Baime is expected to be a guest during the June race broadcast on SPEED.