Why Le Mans' hidden gem will produce its most unpredictable race

OPINION: Much attention in the build-up to the Le Mans 24 Hours is naturally devoted to the battle for outright honours. But the slim field in the Hypercar class as it gets established means the best battle will likely be found in an often-ignored division

James Newbold Aug 11, 2021, 1:57 PM

Upd: Aug 12, 2021, 3:46 AM

If there’s one oft-repeated cliche about 24-hour racing that bears truth, it’s that absolutely anything can happen.

As Toyota discovered in heart-breaking fashion with a turbo problem in 2016, and its perennially unfortunate #7 crew found thanks to some faulty wiring in 2019, seemingly random problems that have never appeared in testing can strike at any time - and often at the most painful moment.

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Author James Newbold

James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award.

He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual, niche or random, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars as Autosport's British GT correspondent and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

An expert in catching 40 winks on media centre floors, he lives with his wife and son in Plymouth, England.