How serious is Sir Chris Hoy?
Some see Sir Chris Hoy's upcoming drive at Le Mans this year as little more than a marketing exercise, but as ROB LADBROOK finds out, the Olympic hero is passionate about his motorsport exploits
It's all too easy to take a glance at Sir Chris Hoy's motor racing career and see it purely as a PR stunt.
All the signs are there. One of the world's largest car manufacturers - Nissan - has successfully rebranded Hoy into a racing driver, through campaigns in British GT and the European Le Mans Series, all with the Japanese firm's logo hanging proudly over him. Marketing genius some would say.
Inside the Le Mans finish too barmy for Hollywood
Team WRT has been at the forefront of GT racing for years and made a successful move to prototypes for 2021, capped by an LMP2 win on its Le Mans debut. It could've been even better had the race been one lap shorter, when its cars ran 1-2, but the stranger-than-fiction reality has spurred the team to reach greater heights
The standout memories of Le Mans 2021
OPINION: With four of the five Hypercar entries unproven in a 24-hour race, it would not have been unexpected for at least one of them to suffer serious reliability trouble. That they all managed to make it through the race relatively unscathed, says GARY WATKINS, was something of a surprise.
Why Toyota's Le Mans victory was not as simple as it looked
Toyota scored its fourth Le Mans 24 Hours victory and a 1-2, with the #7 car of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez beating the #8. But although it looked straightforward from the outside, Toyota faced serious problem that had to be solved with some quick-thinking and ingenuity
How overlooked Mazda produced one of Le Mans' greatest shocks
The screaming rotary-engined Mazda 787 is regarded as one of the most popular Le Mans 24 Hours-winning cars, but until its surprise success on this day 30 years ago it was never regarded as a likely victor. But that reckoned without a new technical partner, some canny political manoeuvring and a rival's bizarre self-inflicted weakness
Can Toyota's #7 crew break its Le Mans curse?
One Toyota, normally with the number 7 on the side, always seems to attract the bad luck in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez are hoping for a change in fortune this time around, but face significantly more unknowns than in recent years
Why Glickenhaus should be taken seriously on its Le Mans bow
Many were quick to dismiss Glickenhaus when the boutique American sportscar firm's entry into the top class of the Le Mans 24 Hours was announced. It's all-new LMH racer, powered by an engine built by a rally specialist, goes in as the underdog against Toyota but the mathematical odds suggest that it has more than just a faint hope of success
The Asian underdog taking on the mighty GT factories at Le Mans
The rising HubAuto team steps up to GTE Pro at Le Mans this year for an ambitious bid to take on the three works giants – and has every reason to be optimistic of achieving its goal in becoming the first privateer on the podium since 2016
How 1971's benchmark Le Mans team lost with the best car
The JW Automotive Engineering team won twice at the Le Mans 24 Hours with ageing Fords and were considered heavy favourites to add more victories to its tally after partnering with Porsche. But despite being armed with the all-conquering 917, this formidable combination was never as successful in real life as on the big screen
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