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Le Mans '66 review: Motorsport must put up with Hollywood's flashes

Le Mans '66 is currently in cinemas, telling the story of the legendary Ford vs Ferrari battle. We review the film and compare it to other motorsport stories that have made their way onto the big screen

For any people who emerged angry after preview screenings of Le Mans '66, the Hollywood blockbuster starring Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as Ken Miles, there needs to be a reality check.

Motorsport is a niche, falling out of favour more and more each day as it becomes more obscure and harder for the public to justify alongside environmental concerns. Anything that brings racing into the mainstream - let alone gives Miles the limelight - for a positive reason needs to be celebrated, up to a point.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.