A challenge like no other

It is a sign of the strangeness of these times that June came and went without Le Mans for the second year in a row. It feels odd to be looking ahead to the 24-hour race in August, but I’m sure when the clock strikes 3pm on Saturday, it will all feel quite normal. To be clear, by ‘normal’ I mean that magical feeling you get every time one of the great races gets underway.

And yes, Le Mans is magical. It is the best race in the world in so many ways. As a competitor you drive in the day and at night, the track conditions change, temperatures rise and fall, and there will almost inevitably be rain at some point. What’s more, you have four different tyre compounds to choose from, traffic to deal with and it’s such a long lap you simply have to get into a rhythm. Plus you’re doing 200mph, more or less, at four different points on the track, so on top of everything else it’s bloody fast.