Glen Smale
Overhead view of one section of the Le Mans Centenary Exhibition. First car on the right is the 2003 winner, the No. 7 Bentley Speed 8 driven by Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Guy Smith
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The Le Mans 24 Hours Centenary Exhibition

A celebration of 100 years of the greatest endurance race in the world

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All images by: Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale

Some Le Mans 24 Hour Background

Do you remember when your favourite band or singer released their latest, long-awaited album? Perhaps it was Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, JJ Cale, or some obscure group that you really liked. You would go down to the record shop (remember those) and search eagerly for that new album, and finding it, you would pay the man behind the till so you could rush home to put your new album on the turntable as quickly as possible. While this writer was an enthusiastic fan of the above artists, and others like them, the same excited feeling would run through my body when, as a young boy, I would read the latest news about the greatest endurance race of all time, the 24 heures du mans.

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South African-born Smale started his professional motor journalism and photography career back in 1994, but if truth be told, Glen has had a driving passion for all things motoring since a tender age. In 1997, Glen launched Autosport & Classics, a classic motoring and historic motorsport magazine covering the local scene in SA. Two years later, having sold his share in the magazine. Between 2004 and 2016 Smale has authored thirteen books covering sports cars and motor racing. In 2007 he received the Laurin and Klement ‘Design Writer of the Year’ award for his book Jaguar E-type: Portrait of a Design Icon. In 2012 his book, Porsche at Le Mans: 60 Years of Porsche Participation in the World’s Greatest Motor Race, was shortlisted in the British Sports Book Awards. Of his thirteen books, no less than seven have been on Porsche cars, perhaps suggesting where his passion lies. Glen first started writing for the only magazine dedicated entirely to the Porsche 911, namely Total 911, as far back as 2005 and still contributes to this magazine on a regular basis. He has also written for the well-known Porsche magazines in America, Excellence, for a number of years. In addition to this, Glen has contributed to the Porsche Club of North America monthly publication, Panorama, as well as a host of other titles over the years in Europe, the UK and South Africa. Away from the race track, Glen was an aspiring golfer in his younger days and represented his province in the under-18 age group for a number of years. He went on to win his University Championships and represented Rhodes University for five years, as well as playing club league golf for ten years. With both children now out of the house and working, Glen lives with his lovely German wife, Elke, in the beautiful county of Carmarthenshire in West Wales. Glen has been a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers since 1995.
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