So often the stage for dramatic changes in fortune, this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours was, even by the usual standards, a positively operatic theatrical. After act after act of calamity, when the final curtain fell, the form book had been dismissed and the winning No2 Porsche of Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley had performed a comeback of remarkable proportions that reminded everyone that this race, more than any other, is not over until the clock has counted off the final seconds of motor racing’s longest day.

The win is Porsche’s third in a row at Le Mans, a hugely impressive achievement, given that they only returned to the top LMP1 racing in 2014 and their 19th at the 24-hour race – the most successful manufacturer at the race. But it was also an achievement for the individuals behind the wheel of the 919 Hybrid.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Timo Bernhard crosses the finish line in the his Porsche 919 Hybrid No2. Photograph: Jean-Francois Monier/AFP/Getty Images

For the New Zealander Hartley, it was his first victory at Le Mans. For his team-mate and compatriot Bamber there was resolution in the result. He had won the race in 2015 alongside Formula One’s Nico Hülkenburg and Britain’s Nick Tandy but with Porsche entering only two cars last year was unable to defend his title. Claiming it back at the first attempt will have been hugely satisfying. Bernhard, a relative veteran with 10 races at Le Mans to his name, also took his second victory and can now boast of wins at La Sarthe for two different manufacturers, after winning with Audi in 2010.

“I’m completely lost for words, it was a rollercoaster, a bloody rollercoaster,” Hartley said. “I honestly didn’t think we could win but at the same time you have at the back of your mind that it is Le Mans.”

It had not came easily. Three and a half hours into the race on Saturday, in stifling temperatures that were punishing on all 60 cars participating, the No2 was forced to pit on lap 58 after losing front axle drive. Correcting the motor generator unit problem took an hour in the garage.

Neither he nor his team-mates had any intention of giving up but now 19 laps off the lead the result looked beyond them until fortune rewarded their persistence. Having thrashed the car through the night, by Sunday morning they were 12 laps behind the leader – the sister Porsche of André Lotterer, Neel Jani and Tandy, who looked set for win with four hours to go. But this is a race cruel like no other, as a distraught Lotterer was reminded when he slowed to a halt and was forced to retire with an oil pressure problem on lap 318.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Jackie Chan DC racing car of Oliver Jarvis, Thomas Laurent and Ho-Pin Tung, from the LMP2 class, took a brilliant second place overall. Photograph: Ker Robertson/Getty Images

The lead was inherited by the No30 LMP2 car of Jackie Chan DC racing, driven by Britain’s Oliver Jarvis, Ho-Pin Tung and Thomas Laurent. The chance of an overall victory going to a car from outside the top class was a possibility but ultimately a hugely impressive second place was the reward for the Kent-based team, formerly Jota Sport.

Sensing their chance, the No2 crew had thrown caution to the wind and went all out to overcome their three-lap deficit to the new leader. It required completing their laps of the 8.469-mile Circuit de la Sarthe just over 10 seconds quicker than their rivals. With Bernhard at the wheel for the final stints, he caught and passed Tung with an hour to go. The team held their breath to the finish but this year there was no final sting in the tail and Bernhard came home, completing 367 laps, one clear of the Jackie Chan car, which took the LMP2 class win and three clear of the third-placed Vaillante Rebellion, another LMP2 car, of Nelson Piquet Jr, Mathias Beche and David Heinemeier Hansson.

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It is the first time since 1966, when Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon took their Ford GT40 to victory, that two New Zealanders have been in the winning car and Hartley was happy to have repeated the feat with his childhood friend. “That was a real fight,” he said. “You can’t write these stories. It’s Le Mans, it’s always unpredictable, sometimes you don’t believe that such a story exists but it did. I am happy to be sharing this with Earl. We’ve known each other since we were seven years old.”

That cars from the P2 category were able to claim such exalted positions reflected another weekend of bitter disappointment for the remaining P1 contender, Toyota. After the crushing blow of having their leading car grind to a halt three minutes from the end of the race last year, the team had bounced back and were looking stronger than ever. They had the quickest car. Kamui Kobayashi had knocked two full seconds off the qualifying record and his No7, along with Mike Conway and Stéphane Sarrazin, had the pace of the field but a first victory at Le Mans for the manufacturer was once again out of their reach.

The first blow fell when the No8 of Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima had dropped out of contention after eight hours, losing 29 laps after an hour in the pits to replace a front motor and battery, their ninth place finish was a strong recovery. But worse was to follow. The No7 had led comfortably for the first 10 hours until a clutch problem caused the car to slow on track and it was unable to return to the pits, ending its race. Then, within 15 minutes, the No9 of Nicolas Lapierre, Yuji Kunimoto and José María López was struck by the Manor LMP2, damaging the rear to the extent it could not return to the pits and was also out.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Toyota of Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima took ninth place after losing 29 laps due to an hour in the pits to replace a front motor and battery. Photograph: Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Toyota had come looking for redemption after last year but this was a narrative denied and has left a stunned team wondering just what they must do to win this race, emphasised by a statement from them expressing, “regret and sadness at the unacceptable turn of events in a race which started with high hopes of a first-ever victory at Le Mans.”

They will return to the stage again next year in another attempt to finally take a bow at the end but first they must make it through the final act, an art Porsche has managed to perfection. “It was brutal on Toyota,” Hartley said. “But it was mixed emotions when I came by the sister car, that was when I understood we were fighting for victory. Those three stints then were the best I did, I really attacked as hard as I could.”

The GTE Pro battle, an unmissable slug-fest throughout the 24 hours across the manufacturers, went down to the wire with the No97 Aston Martin of Jonny Adam, Daniel Serra and Darren Turner finally prevailing after a wheel-to-wheel fight with the No63 Corvette of Jan Magnussen, Antonio García and Jordan Taylor over the final two laps. GTE AM was won by the No84 JMW Motorsport Ferrari of Rob Smith, Will Stevens and Dries Vanthoor.