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Check out the top moments of the Le Mans 24 Hours
Take a look at the top 10 moments where Le Mans was won and lost.
There may not have been a car conking out within sight of the finish line this year, but the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours delivered just as much drama as it's always done, with history being made by two lower-category LMP2 cars finishing on the podium for the first time.
Despite casting themselves as the underdogs, Porsche has made it three wins in a row and 19 Le Mans victories in total, reinforcing their heritage as the most successful manufacturer ever at Le Mans, ahead of Audi (13 wins) and Ferrari (nine wins).
And once again, Toyota's Le Mans curse continued, albeit at a much earlier point than the 2016 heartbreak. Here are the 10 key moments that defined the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours.
1. Drivers get hot and bothered
High temperatures meant hard times for teams
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This was one of the hottest Le Mans on record, with plenty of speculation before the start that temperatures in excess of 30 degrees could force the teams to adjust their stint lengths. Once the race got underway, with two Toyotas heading into the lead, there was drama straight away: the only non-manufacturer LMP1 car – which had been tipped for a podium – was straight into the pits, with smoke coming from the front. The ByKolles Enso never emerged again, with its retirement confirmed two hours later due to engine failure. Another early retirement was the car sitting on LMP2 pole, after Russia's Roman Rusinov inexplicably assaulted a GT-class Porsche.
2. Porsche blinks first
Your Le Mans 24 Hours 2017 winners, Porsche
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More drama when Porsche driver Earl Bamber made an unscheduled stop at 18:30 from fourth place, with a loss of front drive. This was down to a front motor failure (powered by the hybrid system), which cost them nearly an hour, or 19 laps.
Brendon Hartley then got into the car, having dropped out of the top 50, and began one of the most remarkable fightbacks in Le Mans history, which would last for the next 20 hours. At the front, it was now just one Porsche – in second – against three Toyotas. Things weren't looking good for the Germans. But at Le Mans, you can never tell.
3. Toyota’s challenge begins to crumble
Toyota suffered yet more bad luck at Le Mans
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In an excruciating 'told you so' moment, Sébastien Buemi brought his third-placed Toyota into the pits at just after 23:00 with the brakes on fire. For a previous few laps he'd been talking over the radio about a strange noise he was detecting in the car, but the team had told him that they couldn't find anything wrong. "Told you!" he said furiously as the car was wheeled into the garage. It turned out to be a front motor issue – very similar to what had affected the number two Porsche. This time though, it took nearly two hours to fix, and when the Toyota finally rejoined, it was practically last.
4. Formula 1’s biggest names make their mark
Nicolas Prost at the Le Mans 24 Hours 2017
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It was Piquet versus Senna (sharing a car with Prost) fighting for the lead of the LMP2 category through the night – but we're talking about Nelsinho, Bruno and Nicolas here. In the end, it would be Piquet to stand on the overall podium at Le Mans; however, during the post-race checks stewards found irregularities with Piquet's car and they have been subsequently disqualified from the race result. Prost and Senna were in podium contention too, until their car lost 90 minutes in the pits on Sunday mid-morning with a gearbox problem. It was just like F1 in the 1980s. Another F1 driver seen at Le Mans for the first time was Rubens Barrichello, who finished 14th in LMP2, despite not having a particularly competitive car. He was sharing with the most experienced driver in the race this year, Jan Lammers, who was taking part in his 23rd Le Mans.
5. Drama in the dark
More bad luck for Toyota’s drivers
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
Just after 01:00, Kamui Kobayashi in the leading Toyota suddenly slowed, right at the beginning of the lap. The cause was a broken clutch, which meant that he had to try and cover 13 kilometres with no drive to get back to the pits. After some stop-start progress in the dark, a devastated Kobayashi had to finally accept defeat and park his car at the Porsche Curves... as the No. 1 Porsche took the lead.
6. Toyota’s world collapses
Nicolas Lapierre guns his Toyota
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Just 15 minutes later, the only Toyota left in contention made contact with an LMP2 car at the Dunlop Curves. This caused some severe rear-end damage, complete with a puncture. The Toyota was stuck in fifth gear, which meant that Nicolas Lapierre had no choice but to head back to the pits at a speed that shredded what was left of the back of the car, and even set it on fire. He managed to get it within sight of the pit lane before it finally died. Cue a race win presented on a plate to the No. 1 Porsche. But it's never that simple.
7. 2016 revisited
Porsche make another quick pit stop
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Seemingly on course for a dominant victory, with an advantage of 13 laps, Porsche got a flavour of Toyota's agony from last year when Andre Lotterer in the No. 1 car slowed and then stopped on Sunday morning, with no oil pressure. He was told to switch the engine off and bring the car back to the pits on electric power only, but the battery didn't last the lap and he retired with just over three hours to go. "Even if we'd got it back, I'm not sure we would have been going anywhere anyway," he pointed out.
8. Number 2 fights back
Porsche win again at Le Mans
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With the No. 1 Porsche out of combat, it was down to the second car – which had lost an hour in the pits not long after the start – to try and win the race. At a time when everyone else was told to take it easy, Brendon Hartley was instructed to drive like his overalls were on fire and make up as many places as possible. In order to catch the LMP2 car that was now leading the race, he had to go exactly 11 seconds per lap faster. Computer predictions showed that the car was on target to make up the two-lap deficit by the final 30 minutes. As Patrick Dempsey (who knows about these things) said, you couldn't have scripted it.
9. Bernhard makes it two at Le Mans
All smiles on the podium after 24 gruelling hours
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Timo Bernhard – described by former team-mate Mark Webber as "a wily old fox" – took over the No. 2 Porsche with 2h 20m left to go. His mission was to make up the one-lap deficit that separated them from victory, and he carved through the traffic in a way that surprised even Porsche. He took the lead with just over an hour to go, saving Stuttgart's skin. This was his second Le Mans victory (and the second one for Earl Bamber too), while Brendon Hartley took his first Le Mans win. This was also the first time that two New Zealanders had won Le Mans since Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon shared a car in 1966.
10. Records crumble
Thomas Laurent drives into the sunset
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Never before have there been two LMP2 cars on the podium, but never before have the LMP2 cars been going so quickly and leading either. Thomas Laurent, who finished as part of the second-placed crew, became one of the youngest people ever to stand on a Le Mans podium, since Ricardo Rodriguez in 1960. His team-mate Ho Pin Tung also became the first Chinese driver to stand on the overall Le Mans podium. In fact, when #13 ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 got disqualified and stripped off its podium after the post-race checks, #37 Jackie Chan DC LMP2 car driven by Tristan Gomendy, David Cheng, and Alex Brundle got promoted to third overall. As a result, David Cheng became the second-ever Chinese driver to finish on Le Mans podium in the same day. Proof, as if we needed it, that a lot can happen in 24 hours.