Finally, the perennial unlucky loser was really about to do it. All those years of disappointment were about to be buried once and for all. Toyota was going to win the Le Mans 24 Hours. Toyota had won the Le Mans 24 Hours. As good as.
But as good as has never been enough at Le Mans, certainly not for Toyota down the years.
A manufacturer that had made a habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory did it again in 2016. This time it was later than ever in its danger zone of the metaphorical eleventh hour.