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A warning for Nissan's Le Mans return

Nissan's Le Mans comeback will be another boost for sportscar fans, but the firm's overconfidence could be its undoing, reckons GARY WATKINS

The sense of expectation as I prepare to travel to Le Mans for the test day is getting too much for me. I think it's the prospect of seeing a new car from a returning grandee of the 24 Hours that's getting me going.

I'm writing this in May 2014, but I reckon the same words could spill from my keyboard in 12 months' time. This year we have Porsche and its 919 Hybrid, and next year we are going to have Nissan with the GT-R LM NISMO.

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Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.