The 21 Best Moments From The Epic Le Mans 24 Hours 2016

The Le Mans race got underway in a rather low-key manner, with rain and wet weather meaning that the cars pulled away from the grid behind the safety car. After 54 minutes of waiting it officially started and the two Porsche cars led away.

It may have only been one hour in, but the top three cars were separated by just a few seconds, with some great battling and jostling for position.

3. Quite a view

The camera view from the rear of the No.69 Ford GT made for some brilliant onboard footage!

These helicopter/LMP1 slow-motion shots at the Esses were also pretty damn cool!

5. Shake up at the front

The No.7 Audi LMP1 car hit trouble early on, which took a major potential race winner out of contention from the very beginning.

The No.89 Porsche dropped it at the first corner, hitting the wall with a fair amount of force, which resulted in retirement.

The race was made official when Tracy Krohn spun his Ligier LMP2 car off at one of the chicanes. Classic Krohn.

The No.28 Morgan went off several times in quick succession, and that would continue as the race progressed…

9. P1 for me

Things got pretty heated as the sun started to set…

Undoubtedly the best part of Le Mans is the night racing!

The No.6 Toyota and No.2 Porsche battled closely for first place as night fell, with Neel Jani moving ahead with 15 hours to go.

The safety car was deployed after the No.91 Porsche blew up and spilled fluid onto the Porsche Curves!

The No.67 Ford GT collided with one of the prototypes during the night, going for a spin but continuing.

The No.38 Jota Sport Gibson car went off at the final chicane and just tapped the wall; not a good way to start the morning.

Following the No.91 Porsche’s off on the previous day, the No.64 Corvette tried to go one better and did so with a heavy hit with the barriers at the first corner. Fortunately the driver was okay.

Several other cars hit trouble over the next few hours, including the No.35 Signatech Alpine LMP2 machine, the ByKolles LMP1 privateer and the No.50 Corvette.

17. In one shot

After such a long stint of the race, the top three drivers - the two Toyotas and the No.2 Porsche - were still right with each other and separated by just a few seconds. Not bad!

In close succession, Kamui Kobayashi spun the No.6 Toyota and Matt Rao crashed in the Manor after the front bodywork folded under the car.

19. Toyota slows

Having held the lead for quite some time, Kazuki Nakajima’s No.5 Toyota suddenly started to slow with just five minutes left on the clock.

Heartbreakingly the car ground to a halt on the main straight. He got it going again but failed to finish. Truly staggering stuff after well over 23 hours of on-track action.

The No.2 Porsche of Neel Jani, Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas went on to claim the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours win, ahead of the No.6 Toyota and No.8 Audi.

In LMP2 the No.36 Signatech Alpine was victorious, while the No.68 Ford GT brought the manufacturer back to the top step of the podium, finishing first in GTE Pro. The GTE Am win went to the No.62 Ferrari.

21. Garage 56 makes the finish

The Garage 56 entry is for cars displaying new technologies. After a year absence it returned with the No.84 Morgan, a modified LMP2 car with a quadruple amputee as one of its drivers.

Frédéric Sausset used a braking and throttle system controlled by his thighs via paddles on the seat and steered by attaching the prosthetic on his right arm to the steering column.

Despite an infection causing him to lose his forearms and legs, Sausset refused to give up racing and his story is undoubtedly the most inspiring at Le Mans. The car finished the race in 38th place, a truly brilliant achievement by the entire team and driver line-up.

What was your favourite moment? Let us know below!