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FOX Sports opens its LIVE coverage of the 84th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday, on June 18 at 8:30 a.m. on FS2 and FOX Sports GO (full schedule below), with Bob Varsha and Brian Till leading an eight-member FOX Sports broadcast team.
Varsha’s broadcast team for the iconic endurance race includes Calvin Fish and Tommy Kendall, while Till leads the team of Jamie Howe and Scott Pruett. Justin Bell and Andrew Marriott report from the pits and legendary driver Sam Posey - described by Autoweek as “… driver, racing broadcaster, fine artist and all-around good guy/ambassador for motorsport” - is writing and voicing the open, as well as providing pieces throughout the weekend.
“From my first Le Mans in the mid-1980s, the 24 Hours has been my favorite event in motor sports,” Varsha said. “Nine decades of spectacular history, drivers and teams from nearly 30 countries, extraordinary mechanical diversity on the grid, a quarter million spectators and the sheer audacity of racing state-of-the-art machinery on an eight-plus mile lap made up mainly of public roads is simply a fan’s dream. And with this year’s field expanded to 60 cars, there is so much more of everything. Don’t forget that Le Mans is a double-points event for full-season competitors in the World Endurance Championship, and from what we’ve seen in the first two WEC races at Silverstone and Spa, the race for overall honors is beyond predicting. In fact, an overall victory by a car other than the 1000-horsepower LMP-1 hybrids is not out of the question.
“Le Mans is often called ‘a British race on French soil’ due to the event’s huge popularity in the UK. But there is also a broad streak of American achievement at ‘Le Sarthe,’ from Luigi Chinetti to Carroll Shelby to Phil Hill to Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt, to the merry band at Corvette Racing and their incredible success. American fans will have cars to cheer for from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, including Michael Shank Racing, Extreme Speed Motorsports, and Krohn Racing in LMP-2 Prototype. IMSA-based teams make up half the field in the ferocious GTE Pro class, with Corvette Racing, Risi Competizione andFerrari, doing battle with factory teams from Porsche, Aston Martin, and no fewer than four new Ford GT’s from Chip Ganassi Racing in their quest to repeat Ford’s first victory in 1966. And GTE Am features nine Americans, including last year’s podium finishers Patrick Long, Townsend Bell, Bill Sweedler and Jeff Segal, plus former winner Johnny O’Connell.”
Author A.J. Baime, who wrote the best-selling Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans, will participate in the broadcast to offer perspective on Ford’s 50-year anniversary of their stunning 1966 win at Le Mans.
FOX Sports GO and FOX Sports.com will provide live streaming video from multiple in-car cameras.
June 18-19 – 24 Hours of Le Mans (all times ET and subject to change):
- FS2: 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- FS1: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- FS2: 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- FS2: 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- FS2: 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
- FS2: 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. (June 19)
- FS1: 2:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. (June 19)
- FS2: 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (June 19)
*The entire race will be streamed live on FOX Sports GO
Follow the 24 HOURS of LE MANS on Twitter: @bobvarsha, @calvinfish, @justinbelltv, @briantill19, @1JamieHowe, @Pitlaneandy, @TommyKendall11, @scottpruett01, @24HoursofLeMans, #LeMans24h, @FOXSports, @FS1 and @SPEED.
For more information on the event, please visit: www.lemans.org.
