"Competitors for 24 hours. Neck and neck for 24 hours. Porsche wins the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. And Toyota has our respect forever." It was with these words, very carefully chosen, that the German marque decided to recognize its battle with Toyota at the 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Porsche, who has more than 10 million Facebook followers, did not hesitate to publish this acknowledgement, and to include a photo of the #5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, the car for which victory was within reach four minutes from the finish line. The same thing was posted on Twitter. 

A very clear mark of respect, which echoed the reactions of the winning drivers during the post-race press conference. "We are having a hard time realizing [what happened] and feel badly for Toyota. In some time, everyone will remember the result. Victory presented itself: we aren't going to say no," admitted Romain Dumas. "I didn't feel anything because I couldn't believe we won: breaking down in the last lap, how often does that happen?" asked Neel Jani. 

Mark Webber, entered in the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, went and comforted Hughes de Chaunac, manager of the French team Oreca which has participated in Toyota's program since 2012 - proof of the level of emotion in the paddock. 

Porsche's win was clinched after a highly disputed race, with several leader changes, and a momentum maintained throughout the race. But the German marque knows how to recognize the quality of its adversary...who has already confirmed the intention of returning in 2017! 

Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

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Photo: Neel Jani finished the race and won with his teammates Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas. Exiting his car, he still hadn't processed what had just happened.