Petit Le Mans crowd sets another milestone

The record-breaking spectator count at Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New MAZDA6 last weekend at Road Atlanta continued a strong trend in attendance gains for the American Le Mans Series. Attendance this season through 10 races is up six percent over last year's record with a season-to-date average weekend crowd of nearly 80,000 fans.

Road Atlanta's four-day crowd of 113,000 saw the deepest field ever assembled in the American Le Mans Series. There were seven winners of this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans entered as well as five drivers who won championships in either CART or IndyCar, plus five competitors who have won the Indianapolis 500.

The crowd witnessed a world-class duel to the end between Audi and Peugeot with Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro coming from two laps down at the start of the race to score Audi's ninth consecutive overall victory at Petit Le Mans.

Road Atlanta also saw the world debut of the Green Challenge, a revolutionary competition that ranks prototype and GT cars based on their overall performance, energy efficiency and greenhouse gasses emitted. Penske Racing and Porsche (prototype), and GM and Corvette Racing (GT cars) were winners in the inaugural event.

"The record-setting crowd at Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New MAZDA6 was a continuation of what we have seen all season - and further confirms that our fans see the American Le Mans Series as the most innovative, relevant and exciting form of motorsport in the world," said Scott Atherton, Series President and CEO.

"These results are especially satisfying given the constant barrage of doom-and-gloom headlines about the economy, fuel supply shortages and other issues that were unavoidable in the weeks preceding the event. Despite all of these factors working against us, spectators turned out in numbers never before seen at Road Atlanta. And with a truly world-class field combined with one of the most spectacular finishes we have ever seen, fans were no doubt rewarded for their attendance."

And there still is one race remaining in 2008 - next week's Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Another strong crowd is expected once again at the season finale.

The final round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series is the Monterey Sports Car Championships from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The four-hour race into darkness is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m. PT on Saturday, October 18. NBC Sports will air the race from 2 to 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 19. XM Satellite Radio's Channel 144 will air the race from 4 to 8 p.m. ET on the same day.

Live video of qualifying will be available on americanlemans.com starting at 3 p.m. PT on Friday, October 17. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage on www.americanlemans.com,  which also will feature Live Timing & Scoring.

- Bob Dickinson - photos ALMS