Porsche: Toyota was sensational in 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours

Toyota and Porsche went head-to-head throughout the race, with the #5 TS050 seemingly winning the battle as it maintained a lead of around 30 seconds in the last two hours.

Porsche admits it had accepted defeat, especially when it was forced to pit the #2 919 in the final 15 minutes due to a puncture, which gave Kazuki Nakajima a lead of over one minute to nurse home.

But the Toyota lost power with little more than five minutes remaining, allowing Neel Jani to steal victory for Porsche at the start of the final lap.

Porsche's LMP1 vice president Fritz Enzinger said: "First of all I would like to express my respect for the sensational performance which Toyota gave in this race.

"It was a great fight with them - shortly before the finish we had settled for second place until we suddenly claimed our second Le Mans victory in a row."

Team principal Andreas Seidl also expressed sympathy for Toyota, although he hinted that the leading car's failure could be put down to a result of the relentless pressure Porsche applied throughout the race.

"We certainly feel for our colleagues and friends from Cologne," Seidl said.

"To give away such a great race this way on the last lap is something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

"But this is the sport with all its highs and lows and that's also why we love it.

"It was a strongly fought victory. We had to put Toyota under pressure and went flat out for the entire race.

"Our drivers were on the edge. The frequency with which the leader changed was extreme."

Porsche's drivers also felt for Toyota, which is still yet to win Le Mans despite several near misses.

"I feel heartbroken for the Toyota drivers," said Jani, who also took pole position for the #2 Porsche.

"Every racing driver knows how this feels like. This is really surreal."

Ex-Formula 1 driver Mark Webber, driving the #1 Porsche, added that "what happened to Toyota is really hard to take", while his co-driver Timo Bernhard described the manner of its defeat as "brutal".