The manufacturer stars of the 2017 WEC

Though the spotlight was on the depleted LMP1 field in 2017, the well-stocked GTE ranks meant the World Endurance Championship enjoyed competition from six manufacturers across two classes this season.

Toyota took plenty of race-by-race headlines in the 2017 World Endurance Championship season but it was Porsche that collected all the big prizes on offer in LMP1. Amazing consistency allowed Ferrari to come back from Le Mans 24 Hours despair to take both GT crowns, while there were star turns within its Aston Martin, Porsche and Ford rivals.

Of course, there were top-class performers in LMP2 and GTE Am too, but works teams are what really capture the attention. These are the 10 drivers who stood out.

GTE Pro

5. Kevin Estre

The Frenchman was the stand-out at Porsche's GT squad, even though he and team-mate Michael Christensen failed to make an impact on the championship in the new 911 RSR.

The mid-engined car didn't yield score a class win in the WEC to go with its solo IMSA success, but there were a couple of clear shots at victory that were ripped away from Estre and his team-mate.

Estre was mighty in the difficult Fuji conditions before the bizarre Priaulx incident. Engine issues robbed them of an even better chance at Shanghai.

3= Harry Tincknell/Andy Priaulx

Two British drivers at very different stages of their careers impressed for Ford over a course of the season in which they were evenly matched. Tincknell, 26, came of age as a GT driver in his second season with Ford and was more often than not at or near the top of the lap time averages.

Fortysomething Priaulx, meanwhile, rekindled the kind form that made him a champion three times over in the World Touring Car Championship in the 2000s.

More than that, though, he and Tincknell worked well as a unit, something that gave them the edge over their team-mates, Olivier Pla and Stefan Mucke. They made the most of a car that wasn't necessarily the most 'raceable' in GTE Pro — the Ford's lack of straightline speed definitely hurt.

Tincknell was particularly impressive in the foul conditions of Fuji, a race that ultimately turned into a disaster thanks to Priaulx's misdemeanours. Running a red light at the end of the pits probably wasn't excusable even with the confusion of a stop-start race, but the incident with the Porsche was a strange one in which it was hard to apportion blame.

2. Nicki Thiim

There were days in 2017, just as before, when Thiim could do things in the best of the Astons that appeared to suspend reality — and were definitely out of the reach of his team-mates. The Dane flattered the ageing Vantage GTE, which wasn't the most competitive package last season.

It was a disappointing year for Thiim and his 2016 co-champion Marco Sorensen, but there were some incredible performances. His comeback drive at Le Mans after Richie Stanaway's mistake, a race won by the sister car, was special.

1. James Calado

It would be wrong to say that Calado slipped into the big shoes of erstwhile Ferrari team leader Gianmaria Bruni after he upped sticks and departed for Porsche. But the Briton did everything expected of him in the lead AF Corse Ferrari alongside Alessandro Pier Guidi.

Calado exploited the most consistent car in GTE Pro to its utmost - he was fast and ultra-consistent. He was a deserving champion who will surely go on to reach greater things. Maybe he'll be talked about in the same breath as Bruni in years to come.

LMP1

5. Neel Jani

Picking another Porsche team member for the top five - a top 10 in LMP1 wouldn't be right given the paucity of entries - isn't easy because there really wasn't much between all six of them, at least once newcomer Andre Lotterer got to grips with the 919 from the Nurburgring on.

Jani gets the nod courtesy of his one-lap speed in qualifying. It can be no coincidence that when the #1 Porsche was on pole, the Swiss driver was in the car and set the fastest time. And when the other Porsche took the top spot, Jani didn't play a part in qualifying.

4. Timo Bernhard

Bernhard cemented a place in sportscar history in 2017, and not just because he notched up a second Le Mans victory and a second world title. His role in the incredible successes of the 919 Hybrid should never be overlooked.

The first driver to test the car, he played a key role in both the development of the LMP1 hybrid and Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber as sportscar drivers in the early years. He was one of the foundation stones on which the programme was built, and he's a rock in terms of consistency. He doesn't have off days.

3. Kamui Kobayashi

That qualifying lap at Le Mans must give Kobayashi extra brownie points. No one could believe his 3m14.791s pole, not even the man in the cockpit. There were special circumstances that made it possible: a tailwind down the Mulsanne and a headwind into the Porsche Curves; and a nice layer of Michelin rubber from the Porsche Carrera Cup cars.

But he still had to make the most of all that, even though it was his first flying lap in the car that day. What he achieved was phenomenal and rightly propels him up this list.

2. Mike Conway

The Briton had an exceptional 2016, but an even better '17. Conway took a step forward as a sportscar driver this year, his third full WEC campaign in LMP1. He was more often than not a match for Kobayashi in the races, if not qualifying, and didn't make any of the mistakes of his team-mate.

Lap time averages in the WEC are now difficult to read thanks to the new-for-2017 limitation on tyres for the six-hour events, but Conway always looked good in the stats. Le Mans, perhaps, offers a more representative picture, and there he was on top.

1. Sebastien Buemi

Buemi was the top performer at Toyota again this year, and by some margin. That's why he gets the number one spot - he stood out above his team-mates in a way that no one did at Porsche; its drivers were just so evenly matched.

The Swiss had the kind of season we have come to expect from him as he has grown into one of the best sportscar drivers of his generation. It's difficult to pick a high point, because there weren't any lows, except perhaps for Spa where he and his co-drivers were unable to match their team-mates for pace.

Honourable mentions

All the Porsche LMP1 drivers, as mentioned already, performed at the highest level. Arguments could be made for the inclusion of each of them in the top five, so your writer will have plenty of flak to take in the paddock in the season to come.

You could also make a strong case for Kazuki Nakajima and Anthony Davidson over at Toyota. Davidson should get a special mention for his Le Mans exploits. He performed at the highest level around the Circuit de la Sarthe, just as he did in 2016, and was second only to Buemi in the averages. Yet the Briton still had his off days, most notably at Mexico City, after which he didn't race at Austin - an event he has never appeared to enjoy - for what Toyota described as personal reasons.

Bruno Senna (below) was the stand-out in LMP2 with the Rebellion team, though he was more the centre of focus within the line-up in the #13 ORECA-Gibson 07 than Oliver Jarvis and Ho-Pin Tung were over at Jackie Chan DC Racing. Rebellion knew that the Brazilian had to do special things if it was to match its rival for the championship for the simple reason that his team-mates weren't a match for any of the three evenly-matched drivers in the Chan/DC entry.

Alex Lynn's early-season heroics for G-Drive Racing shouldn't be forgotten. He was mighty on home ground at Silverstone and claimed the pole on his Le Mans debut.

Matteo Cairoli, one of Porsche's 'young professionals', had an exceptional first proper season of international sportscar racing with the Dempsey-Proton squad. Its old-style rear-engined 911 came alive whenever the 21-year-old Italian was at the wheel.