"It doesn't matter who you are racing for, this is the one you focus on," says Allan McNish. "The other races, whether we like to admit it or not, are only to get between Le Mans each year."
Yes, the 24 Hours at the 8.3-mile Circuit de la Sarthe still means as much as it has always done: to the thousands of fans who make the annual pilgrimage, to the world's car manufacturers, to the teams and mechanics who take on the daunting challenge of Le Mans - and yes, to many of the world's greatest racing drivers.
That's why Jacques Villeneuve is happy to be in France this weekend. He knows what victory at Le Mans would mean. When you've won the Indy 500, 11 Grands Prix and a Formula One World Championship, victory in the world's greatest and most famous sportcar race completes the set.
Villeneuve will be one of the big stories of the race this year, whatever happens. Sadly, it's not often these days that a former F1 world champion chooses to take on Le Mans. Keke Rosberg and Nelson Piquet were the last, and they're not exactly recent world champions.