Le Mans 2020

Go on then, who is in the top league now, is it still just Nissan?

I haven't ever watched more than an hour at a time but I like the lower classes with more road based cars.

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Is that it, just 23 cars and no "Garage 0" or whatever the 1-off prototype can be?

Love the job that Montoya is doing in the Dragon Speed #21 car. Watching him divebomb these chicanes, one might think he is 25, not 45 years of age.

Then people talk of him retiring. Retiring, whilst still driving like this??? Reigning IMSA DPI champion, still competitive, still winning. 

Even though the GTE battles have been great, I can't help thinking that the depth of the category is lacking with only three marques. And one of those marques is fielding an old model, Ferrari haven't yet made an F8 GTE car. The ACO have far too much pride for this, but seeing GT3 cars at least in GTE AM would be a start. Cheaper for the privateers because supply is more plentiful and its cost-capped, and with a lot more marques. Add Lamborghini, Audi, Bentley, Mercedes, BMW, McLaren, Nissan and others.

I was watching the Road To Le Mans race before the start of the 24 hour race. It had GT3 cars. The world didn't go square. GT3 wasn't an ACO-invention, but they might as well admit its the best GT formula around.

Today, GTE is a dwindling category. Porsche won't compete in GTLM in IMSA next year, Ford pulled out, BMW pulled out of WEC. GTE displaced GT1 a long time ago, now its time that GTE itself got displaced. 

I do like the sound of the new LMDh category, though. Finally, a sensible approach to topline prototype racing that won't cost £100 million to compete. I really hope that factory-backed efforts will be discouraged, and a marketplace for LMP1 machines can develop. Big factory efforts lack sustainability, and you can see the consequence of that today, and the goal of trying to mirror the car industry - only Toyota remain in LMP1-H. Even in the early 2000's it wasn't that bad, because Pescarolo were at least in the same category as Audi. This is why GT3 is so great, it has an almost perfect blend of manufacturer and privateer involvement. 

Is the Rebellion team using old Audi's?

No, it's their own chassis with a tweaked version of the Gibson V8 used by the LMP2 cars.

Despite a low-key buildup by Le Mans standards and the lack of spectators, there was much to enjoy. I stayed with it until hour 13, then rejoined for the last five hours. It was a bit of a shame that the lead battle fizzled out after the #7 Toyota suffered a turbo failure which cost them 30 minutes. I don't think ever I've ever seen a driver look more dejected than Kamui Kobayashi trudging back into the garage after his final stint on Sunday morning. Gutting for them to miss out again after having been the faster crew all weekend. They were at least gifted a podium by Louis Deletraz: one minor slip under braking, a low speed brush with a tyre barrier, and Rebellion's double podium was gone. A perfect demonstration of how merciless endurance racing can be.

LMP2 is chock full of serious talent these days. It was fun to watch the grudge match between Sky F1 pundits Anthony Davidson and Paul di Resta for class honours. Some of their night onboard footage - and F1 rejects Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa - was pretty mindblowing.

They didn't get a huge amount of TV time sadly, but I followed the fortunes of the #50 Richard Mille LMP2 team with its all-female crew with interest. Three Le Mans rookies, all young (Tatiana Calderon is the oldest at 27; Sophia Florsch just 19) and with a late driver substitution to contend with (Beitske Visser parachuted in for the injured Katherine Legge) - there was a lot of potential for disaster. But they didn't put a wheel wrong and brought the car home 9th in class out of 24. Solid effort. 

If you looked closely at the timing screens, you'd have seen Dominique Bastien putting in steady 4 minute 10 second laps in the #88 Dempsey Porsche on occasion. That's 12-15 seconds off the pace, not out of the ordinary for a bronze-rated GT driver... and on Saturday Dominique Bastien became the oldest driver ever to turn a lap at Le Mans. He's a couple of months short of his 75th birthday.

There's hope for me yet...

I'm rather embarrassed to admit I had no idea this was on!

I'm usually a huge fan and watch as much as I can get away with before the wife kicks my ass. The racing in the last few years has been second to non with 100% commitment for 24 hours. Also the talent on the grid could threaten F1.

I suspect Tincknell is earning his keep these days! He's been in sportscars for seven years, five of those as a factory driver for Ford and Aston Martin.

I thought that Tincknell was star of Le Mans. The Ferrari was the best handling car in GTE, the only notable mistake that Tincknell made was at the first chicane on the Mulsanne against Rigon when he got crossed up. Apart from that, he didn't flinch again during his stints. It was serious pressure against a faster car.

He's a great prototype driver too, if one looks at his success in IMSA in the Mazda. Perfect candidate for a top LMDh seat....

Grandad was OK; dad was a bit of a wide-boy but OK as a bloke and was poorly advised. Company got too big too soon. Can't choose your relatives.