LE MANS

I like many sports, but motor racing is not really one of them. I once went as a child to watch a motorcycle race at Mallory Park, and the two things I remember were the deafening noise and not being able to work out who was in the lead. Modern technology has probably sorted the second of these out; but if anything, the first has got even worse. I am definitely not a petrolhead.

The Le Mans 24-hour race, which has just finished, is one of the more silly events on the calendar. For a start, it is not a race in the traditional sense, since there is hardly any competitive overtaking. What you need is a car that can keep going at 300 km/h for a whole day, and drivers who won't fall asleep during the night and so crash out of fatigue.

Still, it obviously appeals to some people. The carpenter I use to do jobs in the local cinema travels to France each year for a weekend of Le Mans watching. I have to say that I don't understand him.

Walter Blotscher