MARCH 29, 2006

Mayer named to head ALMS

Tim Mayer has been named chief executive officer of the American Le Mans Series. At the same time he will remain as chief operations officer of IMSA. Mayer is the son of former McLaren team boss Teddy Mayer and is named after Teddy's brother Tim, who raced in F1 in the early 1960s before being killed in an accident at Longford in Tasmania.

Under Teddy Mayer's guidance McLaren won World Champoinships with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1974 and James Hunt in 1976. The team also enjoyed major success in CanAm and in Champ Car racing in the same era. Mayer was eventually replaced at McLaren by Ron Dennis and went off to a career in management in America with Mayer Motor Racing, the Beatrice Lola F1 team and ultimately as vice-president of Penske Racing.