Review: 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours - condensing an endurance challenge

Condensing all the action from the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans down to less than four hours cannot have been easy

But Benjamin Duke has managed to put together a carefully edited review of last year's event.

The stories of the race are weaved together in a way that flows naturally, as if there hadn't actually been any cuts but the entire event took just three hours.

The use of track commentary adds to the effect of making it seem as if the race is unfolding as you watch.

It captures the emotions, the highs and lows, and even almost a year after it took place it's still gripping to see Nico Prost watching his team try to repair the #31 Rebellion or the shock as the #1 Porsche comes to a stop on track.

Buy the Le Mans DVD here

Using the commentary from the event to narrate the action could have had a jarring effect, as the audience would notice the change in tone at every cut and, if not edited carefully, possibly feel as if they'd missed something that had been said during removed footage.

But the review does suffer from this problem, with all the cuts feeling natural.

In fact, the most jarring part of the review comes right at the end, after the champagne has been sprayed and the anthem sung - when the #13 Rebellion is disqualified post-race.

With Rebellion having taken the overall third place, it was important to include, but there were no visuals and using track commentary to describe what had happened meant there was no narration that could have been played over footage of the car during the race.

After all the action and excitement from the race, a black screen with the details of the corrected results felt out of place, even if it was a necessary addition to the review.

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