I've brought you blogs on Formula One, blogs on The Rolex 24 Hours, blogs on the Paris Dakar, hell I even camped out in Speedtv.com over the winter commenting on the Champ Car/IRL merger and relaying everything here.

So here is the latest installment of 'Blogs on non-NASCAR, possibly obsure and occasionally niche motorsport events' - The Le Mans 24 Hours.

After the Month of May swept through (or should that be the weather swept through) Indianapolis, the Month of erm....June has landed somewhere in France. For two to three weeks, the road normally known as Route National 24 becomes the Mulsanne Straight and there won't be a lane hogging hatchback in site.

Le Mans remains the historic 24 Hours, above the various incarnations for other series that have sprung up around the globe. When it was Daytona Rolex time I ran through the names of a few drivers from around the world who had arrived for one race. That is also something Le Mans can boast, albeit in smaller numbers. The Rolex 24 finishes before most racing series have even turned a  wheel. This allows drivers from several series to take up drives, NASCAR, open-wheel, European Series. Le Mans sits right in the middle of most seasons, and although for obvious reasons the ALMS series reaches a haitus for Le Mans, most other series carry on meaning only a fluke of luck, or a really nice team boss allow many non-sports car regulars to compete.

Still the entry list isn't lacking any wow! factor if you know where to look.

The obvious big-hitters drive for the favourites in P1 - either Peugeot or Audi. Between the three Peugeot cars the drivers can boast nearly 800 Formula One starts, with Jacques Villeneuve, Pedro Lamy and Alex Wurz being the cheif contributers to the total. The Audis have the sports car pedigree. Frank Beila, Dindo Capello, Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen. No official word on how many wins between them in Le Mans history, but it's a lot. Kristensen alone has 7.

And while the Penske Porshes from the ALMS may have stayed stateside, many other teams and drivers have made the switch. GT2 - the Ferrari and Porsche class, shows the biggest ALMS influence with the giants of Risi Competitione and Flying Lizard making the jump, along with the fellow Porsche of the Farnbacher Loles team. GT1 will doubtless see the renewal of proper hostilities between the American Corvette teams and the European Aston Martins, after the phony-war with the privateer Aston in the ALMS, with the perenial French entry of a Saleen looking to make it a three way battle.

As far as drivers from the ALMS go, where teams have stayed at home, drivers have travelled. Saasha Maasen from the Penske ALMS team has showed up for another of the (ACO friendly) Porsche Spyders in a P2 class where one of the two examples is a shoe-in for victory, as European P2's tend to fall apart very easily. Ben Devlin from the Lola-Mazda ALMS squad has found himself a seat in the Bruichladdich Distillery sponsored Radical car (who despite their annual non-finishes remain my favourite Le Mans team - and it's nothing to do with Whisky). Former Champ Car driver Simeon Paganaud will drive for an all French P1 team, including F1 legend Olivier Panis, who, well, there are worse team-mates. Another name worth mentioning is Peter Dumbreck's return to the track which sent him flying in a Mercedes Prototype in 1999. Only this time he's in a GT2 Spyker - a lot slower and less air-worthy - ironic for a car maker who's badge is a airplane propeller.

Practice took place over the last weekend, which included a huge accident for Marc Gene in one of the Peugeots - shown in the link below from one of the tracks own cameras.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3KfdRTQEiyw>

Qualify takes place a week from now on the Wednesday and Thursday, before the race over the 14th and 15th June.

As for my picks.

P1 - Yawn, probably Audi. The Peugeot has been fast all season, Sebring was probably the best comparison, and they've had a lot of success in the European endurance season, but they are a little unreliable, again evidenced by Sebring. I'd love to see a Peugoet win it, or better yet, something not powered by a diesel engine, but hell will become the venue for the 2014 winter Olympics before that happens. As a side story if Jacques wins he will become one of the few driver to win one of the Big Three's of Motorsport - Indy 500, F1 title and Le Mans.

P2 - If one of the Porsche Spyders doesn't win, something's wrong. They've been fast in the practice and the American P2s seem indistructable compared to their European counterparts. It got to the point last season where the eventual P2 winner, had such a big lead that they brought him into the pits for an hour because the reliability was so shocking they were scared to keep going.

GT1 - Aston, Corvette, Aston, Corvette, Aston, Corvette. I'm a Brit - Aston. It'll be close, but the colonial power will reign again.

GT2 - Either a Ferrari or a Porsche, the Spykers who make up the number don't stand a chance. Chances are it'll be one of the ALMS travellers, so I'm going for the Flying Lizard car. These guys know endurance racing. Plus I don't like Risi driver Mika Salo after his ALMS temper tantrum a few years ago.

I've had a pretty manic three weeks or so, so have stored up a few points that need to be unleashed. Adopt the brace position.

NASCAR-wise just about everyone has been proved royally wrong. The Hendrick cars continue to have a big round 0 in their win column (and long may it continue). By no means is their recent domination long forgotten but they've failed to pick up where they left off in 2007. Dale Jr continues to keep those of us who think he's over-rated and over-hyped happy by looking the same sort of ordinary he did last year. Also proving everyone wrong is the list (wel. two Toyota winners so far). Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. You see Tony Stewart in that list. No. Me Neither. You expect that. No? Me neither.

So far it looks like were getting into the best NASCAR season in recent years - no matter what your opinion of the car is you have to agree the near identical templates have made the intended equality between the makers real. We've had all 4 makers win a race, a bunch of teams look strong, putting probably the longest list in years on a list we might put on the 'potential winners' list. Dave Blaney's luck continues to suck more than a breast-fed 12 year old. Running strong at Daytona - bumped out, running strong at Martinsville - unspecified mechanical problem drops him from 12th to 43rd. Joy Unconfined.

The new combined open wheel series is underway. Not that you would have noticed. Given the incredible-ness of last years Chicagoland title decider last weekends dull and very used dishwater Homestead opener was a turn off. It only confirmed what some of us already guessed. The same old IRL guys will be winning, the converted Champ Car guys will be mobile chicanes, so despite the 25 car grid that rolled up messily to the green flag in Miami the real race was probably between the same old 6-8 drivers. Amazingly I found the Cup race at Martinsville more watchable than the IRL race, something that given my very very low opinion of Martinville racing I never expected to happen.

Someone fixed Formula One!! From the first corner in Melbourne when Felipe Massa put his foot down and span towards the wall the sport was a very different monster. It might even now be described as a sport. The drivers have to drive. Incredible.

I have a new love. The American Le Mans Series. I've always loved endurance racing, the main Le Mans event especially, and the American sister series got off to a stormer in Sebring. Although Europe has a similar Le Mans series it is run much closer to 'real' ACO rules, meaning that P2 cars are far weaker than P1's. The ALMS's throwing out of that rule makes the racing far better. No-one wants to see Audi win over and over again. Thanks to Speed TV having coverage of Sebring on the internet and Radio Le Mans also broadcasting over the internet I didn't go to sleep till 2am. And I loved every minute of it.

Unfortunately I have to end some sad news.  A plane crash on Sunday claimed the life of two of the most well-known guys in British motorsport. Former Touring Car driver David Leslie and Team Owner Richard Lloyd crashed en route to the Nogaro circuit in France where they were planning on testing their latest project - a Jaguar GT3 car for the FIA GT championship. Both these guys were, if not childhood heroes of mine, central figures in the sport as I just started to follow it in the early 90's.

It's just a shame that after a great start to the motor-racing year, something like that has to happen.