This weekend, the Circuit de la Sarthe hosted the 86th annual 24 Hours of Le Mans. Going into the race, the Toyota Gazoo Racing team was the clear favourite with no works rival in LMP1. The team also grabed a lot of attention by fielding two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso, who is on a mission to become only the second person to win the 'Triple Crown' of Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans and Indy 500 victories. Certainly not lacking works teams was the LMGTE Pro class where the likes of Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche were going head-to-head.
Like the last couple of years, our man on the ground was Bob van der Wolf, who captured the race from start to finish. The result is this action-packed 250-shot gallery, which serves to illustrate our concise report.

Today we continue our look back at some of the great events we visited during the month of May with detailed features on three interesting racing cars that starred.
The earliest of these is the Ferrari 750 Monza, which was shown at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. This was a prime example of Ferrari's mighty four-cylinder racers of the mid 1950s. It was the very first Ferrari sold new to Marquis Alfonso de Portago. Complete with flames on the nose, the Monza was campaigned by De Portago during the 1955 season. Chassis 0496M is once again in Spanish ownership and was recently completely restored to its original configuration and colour scheme.
Formula 1 cars were shown at Villa d'Este for the first time. Among them was this Alfa Romeo 182 F1 shown by its Italian owner. The type 182 was Alfa Romeo's first Grand Prix car with a carbon-fibre composite monocoque. Chassis 182/04 placed first at the Monaco Grand Prix even though Andrea de Cesaris ran out of fuel on the final lap.
At last week's Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or, French racing legend Gerard Larrousse was re-united with the very Porsche 911 ST that he raced to third overall in the 1970 Tour de France. Reportedly the lightest Porsche 911 racing car ever built, it was beaten only by a pair of Matra prototypes. The ex-Larrousse 911 ST was restored and prepared for racing by British Porsche specialist Historika.

On the eve of this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans, BMW finally took the wraps of the second generation 8-Series. At the market debut, in November of 2018, the big coupe will be available with a 530 hp V8 and all-wheel drive in the M850i xDrive trim. A diesel version will also be available, which boasts a formidable 320 hp.
Aston Martin Racing also used the busy Le Mans week to reveal further details of the upcoming GT3 version of the Vantage and a first glimpse of the virtually standard GT4 racer. Due to be homologated on March 1st, 2019, the Vantage GT3'sfinal specification is subject to the GT3 class' balance of performance. In its first configuration it is combines a a 1,245 kg weight with an engine good for 535 bhp.
To highlight the company's 70th anniversary celebrations, Porsche revealed this 911 Speedster Concept. Effectively a 911 GT3 with the roof chopped and the windshield lowered, the new Speedster promises to be a formidable machine. Although shown in Concept form, the new Speedster should hit limited production in 2019.

The undulating Circuit de Dijon-Prenois hosted the annual Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or. This is the oldest historic racing meeting in the world and since 2014, it has been under the umbrella of the Peter Auto organisation. This means that it features all the familiar grids. This year with the exception of the Group C as the competitors felt the track did not suit these potent sports prototypes. That nevertheless left plenty of action on the track with races for sports cars, single seaters and touring cars throughout the weekend. Adding more spice to the mix was the Global Endurance Legends series with high speed demonstrations for sports cars and GT racers from the 1990s and 2000s. The latter included the Ferrari 333 SP, which arguably has the nicest engine note of all.
For the fifth year running and in changeable conditions, we were on hand to capture the event in its entirety. The result is this class-by-class 240-shot gallery, which serves to illustrate our concise report.

Having visited many events each year for the last decade and a half, we do run into many of the same cars. Fortunately, each event offers some exception. A big one at last month's Spa Classic was this fabulously presented Jaguar XJR-11. This particular car was the very first of the twin-turbo V6-engined Jaguar Group C cars. It debuted on pole at Brands Hatch but ultimately never managed to score a victory. Since its retirement from contemporary racing, it was meticulously prepared to full running order but did not turn a wheel in anger again until last month. Despite being mothballed for over 25 years, chassis 189 was immediately competitive just like it had been when it was brand new.
The Porsche 917/10 featured today is not one we had not seen before but we had not seen it race in this guise until the start of this season. The second 917/10 built, the Can-Am racer was campaigned extensively by Jo Siffert in the STP colours it wears again today. When we shot the car some years ago, it was fitted with the style of body used when it was brand new but which was not quite as striking as the current configuration. Chassis 917/10-002 was campaigned this year at Barcelona and Spa by its new owner.

With a class dedicated to the rise of the GT, it was not surprising that Ferraris starred at last week's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. Today we have taken a closer look at two of the Ferraris that grabbed the limelight. The earliest of the pair is this 212 Export Vignale Cabriolet. Built for the Portuguese ambassador in Paris, it was one of just two Vignale Cabriolets built on what was effectively a racing car chassis. Beautifully restored, the 212 Export was an outright winner at Cavallino Classic back in 2017 and is pictured at Villa d'Este and Pebble Beach.
Shown at the same two events was this 250 GT SWB that won the GT class at Villa d'Este. Originally built for an American pilot, it combined the steel body of the road-going SWBs with competition cues like the open air filter and the external fuel filler. Although it spent most of its life painted red, chassis 2243GT was more recently re-finished in the original grey over red during a comprehensive restoration.
Villa d'Este event patron, BMW, meanwhile has been busy creating the third generation Z4. Due to be launched later in the year, it will differ from the previous generation model due to the fold-away fabric roof. To wet our appetites, BMW have revealed a set of shots of the range-topping M40i testing at the Miramas track in the south of France.