Brad Pitt to start Le Mans race

Le Mans - American actor Brad Pitt will wave the starting flag for this year's Le Mans 24 hour car race on June 18, organisers of the French endurance race confirmed on Friday.

"Proud and very happy that the start of #LeMans24 2016 will be given by #BradPitt, eager for him to share the legend of this race," wrote Pierre Fillon, president of l'Automobile Club de l'Ouest (Automobile Club of the West), organisers of the event since its inauguration in 1923, on his Twitter account.

The 52-year-old American actor and producer had long been tipped to star in a film, "Go Like Hell", directed by Michael Mann and alongside Tom Cruise, which would have had the backdrop of the Le Mans circuit and the rivalry between American Carroll Shelby and Ferrari. But that project never found funding and seems to have stalled.

Pitt follows French President Francois Hollande who last year waved the starting flag, with French actors Alain Delon (1996) and Luc Besson (2002) having previously done the honours at the prestigious endurance race.