Retired Le Mans endurance racer Danny Watts has come out as gay.

The retired racer has said he never felt able to come out as gay while driving in the sport.

Speaking to Autosport, he said: “You feel like you have to hide it within motorsport because it’s a very masculine sport.”

In an interview with Gay Times, the 37-year-old added that he felt he would “need to live in the closet if I wanted my motorsport career to go anywhere.

“There were enough gay jokes and homophobic slurs to go around, and I felt like if I lifted my head out of the trenches I’d be completely annihilated.”

Tweeting of the story, Watts said: “It shouldn’t be a story, but the fact it is says much about (the) culture of racing,”

Autosport reports Watts as the highest profile European driver to come out.

Formula One currently has no out gay drivers at its top level.

Watts won the second tier LMP2 category at the 24 Hours Le Mans race, but now works as a coach to upcoming drivers.