
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.

James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.
In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.
After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award.
He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.
A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual, niche or random, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars as Autosport's British GT correspondent and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.
An expert in catching 40 winks on media centre floors, he lives with his wife and son in Plymouth, England.
Glickenhaus finalises Le Mans 24 Hours driver line-ups
WEC set to host first daylight Bahrain race in October
More from James Newbold

Van der Linde to defend DTM title with Schubert, Rast returns with BMW
Van der Linde to defend DTM title Van der Linde to defend DTM title with Schubert, Rast returns with BMW

Toyota WEC ace Lopez to race for Cool LMP2 team in ELMS
Toyota WEC ace Lopez to race in ELMS Toyota WEC ace Lopez to race for Cool LMP2 team in ELMS

Bathurst 12-winning Mercedes crew to defend victory as Pro entries revealed
Bathurst Pro entries revealed Bathurst 12-winning Mercedes crew to defend victory as Pro entries revealed

Peugeot WEC racer Di Resta adds United ELMS programme
Di Resta adds ELMS programme Peugeot WEC racer Di Resta adds United ELMS programme

Ranking the top 10 winless Formula 3000 drivers
Top 10 winless Formula 3000 drivers Ranking the top 10 winless Formula 3000 drivers

Shwartzman to make sportscar debut with Ferrari in GTWCE Endurance
Shwartzman joins GTWCE with Ferrari Shwartzman to make sportscar debut with Ferrari in GTWCE Endurance

WRT wins on BMW debut in Dubai 24 Hours, Rossi claims podium
WRT BMW wins Dubai 24 Hours WRT wins on BMW debut in Dubai 24 Hours, Rossi claims podium

The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
The longest-serving Red Bull driver The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
Latest news

Zhou: Less pressure this year after "nervous" start in 2022
Zhou: Less pressure this year after "nervous" start in 2022 Zhou: Less pressure this year after "nervous" start in 2022

Verizon, Penske announce multi-year extension of partnership
Verizon, Penske announce multi-year extension of partnership Verizon, Penske announce multi-year extension of partnership

Conor Daly will attempt the 2023 Daytona 500
Conor Daly will attempt the 2023 Daytona 500 Conor Daly will attempt the 2023 Daytona 500

Fenestraz risked 'finishing on three wheels' with Diriyah FE pass on Mortara
Fenestraz risked 'finishing on three wheels' with Diriyah FE pass on Mortara Fenestraz risked 'finishing on three wheels' with Diriyah FE pass on Mortara

Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
Why modern garagistes belong in WEC Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023

Motorsport.com writers' most memorable moments of 2022
Our most memorable moments of 2022 Motorsport.com writers' most memorable moments of 2022

Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
Is Qatar the price fans have to pay? Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?

How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
How Toyota defeated Alpine in 2022 How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title

The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
Sportscars long road to convergence The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age

How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
How Porsche changed the game in LM24 How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game

Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
Why BMW is a dark horse for 2024 Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes

The history lessons Peugeot should have learned on its return
The lessons Peugeot needed to learn The history lessons Peugeot should have learned on its return
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.