Our thirst for live motor sport shows no sign of abating. This summer I have been struck by the sheer scale and popularity of some of the headline events I have been to. They have moved from niche interest gatherings to truly mainstream juggernauts complete with all the trappings of a big business entertainment.
The first of the three such events I attended in July was the Le Mans Classic. It is usually biennial and with the last one taking place in 2022 this year’s was a one-off to celebrate 100 years of Le Mans proper. Perhaps unsurprisingly then it was sold out. And although I had been to previous Classics pre-pandemic the scale of this one (which started in 2002 with a crowd of around 30,000) took me by surprise. The organisers estimate a record 235,000 visitors over the course of the weekend and it was, as we rosbifs say, jam-packed.