THE BRITISH LE MANS

Le Mans. Not only is it the most famous endurance race, but surely a prime candidate for the most alluring road circuit on the planet. Comparable to what the TT is to bikers, Le Mans is simply the highlight of the motor-racing season. Winning it is considered the peak of any driver’s career; just being there to witness the action is enough for spectators young and old.

For us Brits the middle weekend of June is all about that pilgrimage down to La Sarthe, where we’ll watch racing versions of our own 911 sports cars take on contemporary rivals. Yet if history had played out differently, we might not have had to go anywhere at all to watch a world-renowned endurance road race.

These days the Peak District National Park is known for its limestone valleys and enveloping moorland, but in the 1950s serious moves were made by local authorities to configure a 12-mile circuit on roads near Buxton, Derbyshire, which would rival – no, usurp – that famous French spectacular. Simon Taylor tells an excellent story in Motor