Postcard from Le Mans

This is not a race report. If you care about Le Mans, you know who won it and don’t need to be reminded by me. Instead I’d like at least to sketch a picture for those unable or unwilling to join the exodus to travel to what remains the best-attended by Brits of any single sporting event held abroad.

This was always going to be a very different Le Mans, and for many reasons. The track remained the same, but pretty much everything else was new for 2024. And if you looked at the raw material, the potential for a classic race was clear to see.

The headline was the largest number of factory cars in the top class in the history of the race. Joining last year’s winner Ferrari, and long time LM stalwarts Toyota and Porsche, came BMW, Lamborghini, Cadillac, Alpine, Peugeot and, er, Isotta-Fraschini. But at the other end of the grid there was a significant change: the first time GT3 cars would race on this hallowed turf.