MOTORSPORT: Toyota does the double at Le Mans

The 2019 Le Mans 24-Hour was over before it began.

When Toyota confirmed it would continue as the only manufacturer in the flagship LMP1 class, and backed the commitment with the fastest times in practice and qualifying, a landmark one-two result was never really in doubt.

Even so, there was heartbreak amid the celebrations as the car that had led from the start was struck by double puncture punishment within sight of the finish.

A Michelin tyre went flat but a faulty sensor on the leading Toyota saw the crew change the wrong tyre, which meant a second stop and a disastrous loss of time.

So the slower of the Toyota TS050 hybrids was first at the finish, with Fernando Alonso sharing #8 again with Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastian Buemi to repeat their victory from 2018 and claim the World Endurance Championship.

“Winning now in the last moment … was very lucky for us. We take it,” Alonso said.

“It has been a rollercoaster of emotions. No words to say.

“We congratulate car #7 because they did a better job on track. But luck was against them today."

Le Mans in 2019 was nothing special for the two Australian drivers in the field, as defending class winner Matt Campbell only managed fifth in the GTE-AM class with his Porsche 911 RSR and Ryan Briscoe flew in from the USA for a desultory sixth in GTE-PRO with a Ford GT that, like the others in the four-car factory team, was out-run and out-gunned.

There were crashes and dramas as always at Le Mans, but the weather was kind with generally cool conditions and only one slight sprinkle of rain.

The best battle was in GTE-PRO, with Ferrari fighting against Porsche, Chevrolet and Aston Martin with a string of lead changes, but at the front it was Toyota all the way.

Behind the big names, the outright podium was filled by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose-Maria Lopez in the second Toyota and SMP Racing with McLaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne sharing with Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin.

Ferrari claimed GTE-PRO and Ford upset the form book when the only privately-owned GT claimed GTE-AM.

The puncture problem for the leading car came less than an hour from the finish, after Mike Conway -- who walked away from IndyCar oval racing in the USA because it was too dangerous -- had romped away from the start and set the quickest lap. When Lopez slowed with a damaged Michelin tyre, Alonso had already conceded defeat.

“We knew we didn’t have the pace. We got close, but…,” Alonso said.

But then he became a double Le Mans winner, just as he is a two-time F1 title winner, and achieved his goal of claiming the World Endurance Championship in a gruelling double-sided program through much of last year.

“When I decided to combine Formula 1 and WEC it was to try and become world champion,” he said.