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The classic debate revived by Britain's overlooked 2020 champion

It may have been missed amid the clamour over Lewis Hamilton's seventh F1 title, but Britain had another world champion crowned last weekend. Mike Conway's WEC crown raises an old conundrum - does title glory make up for the pain of Le Mans defeat?

Gary Watkins Nov 19, 2020, 3:56 PM

It's a question I've asked before. Does winning the World Endurance Championship make up for not winning the Le Mans 24 Hours? A variation on the theme is to inquire about what means the most, claiming the championship or taking victory in the big race in France at its centre?

I struggled to get an answer when I put the first version to Mike Conway the day after he'd wrapped up the 2019/20 WEC crown together with Toyota team-mates Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez in Bahrain last Saturday. He procrastinated at first, but eventually said that he'd "take the world championship over Le Mans", a race he has come so close to winning in the past.

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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.