The first outriders of the British invasion force reached France in the dying hours of Friday June 6, establishing beachheads at Calais and Le Havre. By Sunday evening, detachments several thousand strong were closing in on the Loire Valley, bypassing Paris to the east. Within four days, 70,000 Britons had encircled their strategic goal, a 13.6km loop of road in the Loire-bordering departement of La Sarthe. This year’s 24 Heures du Mans, the world’s toughest motor race, was about to begin.

The details

A more accomplished, faster next-generation version of Aston Martin’s best-selling V8 Vantage. Treads harder on Porsche and Audi heels.

How much
£85,000 (coupe) £92,000 (roadster)
How fast
0-62mph 4.7 secs, top speed 180mph
How thirsty
20.4mpg on EU combined urban/rural test cycle
How green
328g CO2 per km
Also consider
Porsche 911 Carrera S £68,750 (coupe), £75,880 (roadster); Audi R8 £78,195; Jaguar XKR £70,097 (coupe), £76,097 (roadster)

For Britons who care about this country’s proud motor racing heritage, the annual pilgrimage to Le Mans is the secular equivalent of the Muslim hajj. We set out in our tens of thousands, a hardy minority camping out for more than a week. We come in expectation of a great motor race and relief from the yawn-inducing processions of Formula 1. Nearly 60 cars line up on the Le Mans grid and, thanks to huge strides in mechanical reliability, hammer hell out of each other in what has become a sprint race lasting 24 hours. But we come, also, in tribute to the Bentley boys whose “world’s fastest lorries”, as the French described their huge, supercharged racers, dominated Le Mans in the 1920s. We come too in celebration of the Jaguars, Aston Martins, McLarens and thoroughly 21st century Bentley Speed 8s which subsequently have featured so strongly on the roll of honour.