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Opinion

The understated Le Mans legend who has earned a testimonial

OPINION: After 24 Le Mans 24 Hours participations, 50-year-old Emmanuel Collard will be absent from the grid this year, stuck at the mercy of his gold driver grading. But, while he's not motivated by breaking start records, the French veteran is determined to return to the field next year

Motorsport is renowned for its lack of sentiment. Handshake deals are routinely forgotten and binding contracts discarded when a better offer comes along, while savage boardroom budget cuts are made with little regard to imminent technical breakthroughs.

Drivers with an apparently indefinite shelf-life slip away without the fanfare afforded to long-serving footballers at testimonials, years before their actual retirement. Nothing lasts forever in this ruthless, dog-eat-dog world.

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