FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 16th, 2014

NBC SPORTS GROUP PRESENTS LIVE MOTORSPORTS TRIPLEHEADER ACROSS NBC, NBCSN AND CNBC SUNDAY

Honda Indy Toronto Doubleheader – Races 1 and 2 at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday on NBCSN

Formula One German Grand Prix – Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET on CNBC

Global RallyCross New York – Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC

Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Spring Creek National – Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Iowa Indy Corn 300 Most-Watched IndyCar Race on NBCSN in More Than Two Years

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 16, 2014 – NBC Sports Group presents coverage of six different racing series this weekend, including a live tripleheader on Sunday featuring the Verizon IndyCar Series, coming off the most-watched race on cable in more than two years, Formula One, and Red Bull Global RallyCross across NBCSN, CNBC and NBC, totaling more than 30 hours of motorsports coverage. In addition, NBCSN will present races from the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series, as well as races from Indy Lights and GP2, the developmental series for IndyCar and F1.

Sunday’s live motorsports tripleheader begins at 7:30 a.m. ET on CNBC with the F1 German Grand Prix, followed by Global RallyCross action from New York at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, and Race 2 of the Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

NBC Sports Live Extra – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets – will provide live streaming coverage of this week’s IndyCar, Formula One, Global Rallycross and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross events.

 

INDYCAR HONDA INDY TORONTO DOUBLEHEADER – SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AT 3 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series continues this weekend from the streets of Toronto with the Honda Indy Toronto Doubleheader. Coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. ET with qualifying, leading into live coverage of Race 1 at 3 p.m. ET. NBCSN will present live coverage of Race 2 at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, followed by the Indy Lights Toronto race at 6 p.m. ET.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport), who won in Toronto in 2012, earned his third victory of the 2014 season last weekend at Iowa Speedway, passing Tony Kanaan (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) in the final two laps to earn the checkered flag. Hunter-Reay now sits in third place in the championship points standings behind Helio Castroneves (Team Penske, 471 points) and Will Power (Team Penske, 462 points).

Bob Varsha will call the Hondy Indy Toronto doubleheader on-site, alongside Toronto native and two-time Hondy Indy Toronto winner Paul Tracy, and Townsend Bell, who raced in this year’s Indy 500. Reporters Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, Kevin Lee and Robin Miller will report from the pits. Lee will handle play-by-play of the Indy Lights Toronto race alongside analysts Anders Krohn and Jake Query.

 

FORMULA ONE GERMAN GRAND PRIX – SUNDAY AT 7:30 A.M. ET ON CNBC

NBCSN’s coverage of the F1 German Grand Prix begins Friday at 4 a.m. ET on NBC Sports Live Extra with Practice 1, followed by Practice 2 at 8 a.m. ET, and Practice 3 at 5 a.m. ET on Saturday. NBCSN will also present coverage of Practice 2 on Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET. CNBC’s live coverage starts with qualifying on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. ET, with an encore presentation airing at noon ET on NBCSN. Live coverage of the German Grand Prix begins at 7:30 a.m. ET on Sunday on CNBC, followed by an encore at noon ET on NBCSN.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) pulled within four points of championship leader and teammate Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) with a victory at Silverstone in the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, after Rosberg retired on lap 29 due to gearbox issues. Hamilton is a two-time winner of the German Grand Prix, winning at the Hockenheimring on both occasions, where this year’s race will take place. The German Grand Prix has alternated between Hockenheimring and Nurburgring since 2006.

Lead F1 announcer Leigh Diffey will call the German Grand Prix, and will be joined by veteran analyst and former racecar driver David Hobbs, and analyst and former race mechanic for the Benetton F1 team Steve Matchett. F1 insider Will Buxton will serve as the team’s on-site reporter from Hockenheimring in Hockenehim, Germany, and will also call Sunday’s GP2 race, which airs at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

 

RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS NEW YORK – SUNDAY AT 2 P.M. ET ON NBC

NBC’s coverage of the 2014 Red Bull Global RallyCross Championship continues on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET from New York. Patrik Sandell (Olsbergs MSE) will look to build off of his win in the Washington D.C. race on June 22, while Scott Speed (Volkswagen Andretti) hopes to hold his lead over Nelson Piquet Jr. (SH Racing) in the driver standings.

Veteran motorsports play-by-play announcer Brian Till will call the action on Sunday on-site from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., joined by motorsports analyst Tommy Kendall and reporter Kristen Kenney.

 

LUCAS OIL PRO MOTOCROSS SPRING CREEK NATIONAL – SATURDAY AT 6 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra will combine to present five hours of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Spring Creek National coverage from Millville, Minn. on Saturday. Coverage starts on Live Extra at 11:30 a.m. ET with practice, followed by the pre-race show at 11:15 p.m. ET. Race coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on Live Extra with 1st Motos, followed by live coverage of the 450 Class of 2nd Motos at 4 p.m. ET, and 250 Class of 2nd Motos at 5 p.m. ET.

Last weekend, Ryan Dungey took the 450 Class at Budds Creek National for his third straight win in Mechanicsville, while Blake Baggett matched Dungey’s accomplishment with his third straight Budds Creek National victory in the 250 Class.

Veteran play-by-play voice Jason Weigandt, analyst and two-time AMA Pro Motocross Champion Grant Langston, and pit reporter Georgia Lindsay will call the action from Spring Creek National in Millville, Minn.

 

IOWA INDY CORN 300 MOST-WATCHED INDYCAR RACE ON NBCSN IN MORE THAN TWO YEARS

Last Saturday’s Iowa Indy Corn 300 on NBCSN (8:25-11:03 p.m. ET) averaged 444,000 viewers, making it the most-watched IndyCar race on NBCSN since the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2012 (4/5/12, 468,000). Viewership was up 75% from the same race in 2012 (254,000), which was delayed due to rain (no cable comparison for 2013).

Through seven races this year, NBCSN’s IndyCar coverage is averaging 391,000 viewers, up 37% from the first seven races of 2013 on the network (285,000).

Additionally, last week’s live Lucas Oil Pro Motocross coverage from Budds Creek National on NBCSN (3-5 p.m. ET) averaged 210,000 viewers, up 23% from NBCSN’s 2013 average live motocross viewership.

 

Motorsports Coverage This Week on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra:

Date Program Time (ET) Network
Thu., July 17 Motocross Highlight Series 11 p.m. NBCSN
Fri., July 18 F1 German Grand Prix – Practice 1 4 a.m. NBC Sports Live Extra
  F1 German Grand Prix – Practice 2 8 a.m. NBC Sports Live Extra
  F1 German Grand Prix – Practice 2 (Encore) 2:30 p.m. NBCSN
Sat., July 19 F1 German Grand Prix – Practice 3 5 a.m. NBC Sports Live Extra
  F1 German Grand Prix – Qualifying 8 a.m. CNBC
  Lucas Oil Pro Motocross – Spring Creek (Practice) 11:30 a.m. NBC Sports Live Extra
  F1 German Grand Prix – Qualifying (Encore) Noon NBCSN
  Lucas Oil Pro Motocross – Spring Creek (Pre-Show) 1:15 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra
  Honda Indy Toronto – Qualifying 1:30 p.m. NBCSN
  Lucas Oil Pro Motocross – Spring Creek 1st Motos 2 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra
  Honda Indy Toronto – Race 1 3 p.m. NBCSN
  Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Spring Creek – 450 Class 4 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra
  Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Spring Creek – 250 Class 5 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra
  Lucas Oil Pro Motocross – Spring Creek National 6 p.m. NBCSN
Sun., July 20 F1 German Grand Prix 7:30 a.m. CNBC
  F1 Extra 10 a.m. CNBC
  F1 German Grand Prix (Encore) 11:30 a.m. NBCSN
  F1 Extra (Encore) 2 p.m. NBCSN
  Red Bull Global RallyCross – New York 2 p.m. NBC
  Honda Indy Toronto – Race 2 3 p.m. NBCSN
  Indy Lights Toronto 6 p.m. NBCSN
  GP2 Germany 7 p.m. NBCSN

 

MOTORSPORTS ON NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA: NBC Sports Live Extra — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets — will provide live streaming coverage of this week’s Formula One, IndyCar, Global Rallycross and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross events. The majority of coverage will be provided via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at http://www.nbcsports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app for mobile devices and tablets is available at the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play.

Races airing on:

  • NBC will live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra;
  • NBCSN will live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra, and to the digital platforms of participating cable, satellite, and telco services, via “TV Everywhere,” which is available on an authenticated basis to subscribers of participating MVPDs;
  • CNBC will live stream exclusively through NBC Sports Live Extra via “TV Everywhere.”

 

MOTORSPORTSTALK: MotorSportsTalk (@MotorSportsTalk) on NBCSports.com brings racing fans up-to-the-minute news, video and information on the Formula One, Verizon IndyCar Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and all other motorsports racing from around the world. The site also serves as the destination for all news, analysis and video from NBC and NBCSN productions of IndyCar and F1, including contributions from on-air commentators.

MotorSportsTalk’s content is provided by top racing journalists and expert analysts, including:

 

  • Luke Smith is creator and editor at Richland F1, which begins its second season this year. He’s on Twitter at @LukeSmithF1, primarily handling the F1 scene from Europe in great detail.
  • Tony DiZinno has most recently served as web editor for RACER Magazine and has more than seven years of experience in the industry. Follow him on Twitter at @TonyDiZinno.
  • Chris Estrada has written for NBCSports.com’s MotorsportsTalk since its inception in 2013, and has been a contributor for various outlets, including the Boston Globe, IndyCar Nation and FoxSports.com. Follow him at @estradawriting.
  • Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran NASCAR reporter with more than 30 years of experience. He has contributed to USA Today, Yahoo! Sports and other websites over the course of his career. Follow him on Twitter @JerryBonkowski.

 

To explore the site, please visit MotorSportsTalk.com.nbcsports.com or www.NBCSports.com.

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