Porsche wins 24H Le Mans as LMP2 cars complete podium

Porsche has won the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans following a drama-filled race that saw all but two of the LMP1 runners retire.

Timo Bernhard took the chequered flag one lap ahead of Ho-Pin Tung in the LMP2-class Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA 07, which scored a remarkable podium finish by outlasting the more powerful LMP1s.

Tung led until the end of the penultimate hour, when Bernhard caught and passed the Chinese driver on the run down to Mulsanne Corner having recovered from a deficit caused by an early hybrid issue.

Bernhard, who won Le Mans in 2010 with Audi, lifted the trophy with team-mates Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley.

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The result marked the first triumph at the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe for Hartley, while Bamber celebrated his second victory from three attempts.

Joining Tung on the second step of the podium were former Audi LMP1 driver Oliver Jarvis and 19-year-old Thomas Laurent, who was the youngest driver in this year's race.

The Jackie Chan car, run by British squad Jota Sport, led much of the final six hours after the once-leading #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid retired with engine trouble in the 21st hour.

Andre Lotterer was coasting the car home with a 19 lap lead to the next-placed car, but lost drive heading down the pit straight and pulled off part-way through his crawl back to base.

Other incidents knocked out the other key LMP1 runners, including the #7 Toyota TS050 which broke the qualifying lap record on Thursday.

Kamui Kobayashi, the author of that record-breaking effort, encountered a clutch problem following the first of three safety car periods during the 10th hour.

Shortly afterwards, the team's #9 entry, which was next in line but a lap down, retired when Nicolas Lapierre clashed with a Manor-entered ORECA LMP2 at the Dunlop Chicane.

That left the #1 Porsche to rule the night alone, following the early hybrid issue for the German manufacturer's sister car and a similar problem for the #8 Toyota, which came through in ninth overall.

Completing the podium was the #13 Rebellion Racing ORECA 07 of Nelson Piquet Jr, David Heinemeier Hansson and Mathias Beche, which lost its class advantage through a recurring starter problem.

In fourth was the sister Jackie Chan DC Racing car, ahead of the #35 Signatech Alpine which was running fourth until Andre Negrao went off at Mulsanne in the final hour.

Adam gives Aston last-gasp GTE-Pro win

The battle for GTE-Pro honours boiled down to the final lap, with Jonny Adam overtaking Corvette driver Jordan Taylor to seal victory for Aston Martin Racing.

Adam started the final stint one second behind Taylor, who got the jump in the final round pit stops.

The order almost changed when Adam lunged down the inside at Indianapolis, but the Scottish driver out-braked himself and allowed Taylor to break.

But when Taylor missed his own braking point at the second Mulsanne chicane, Adam closed in again and slipped past in front of the main grandstands.

Taylor, whose tyres were already fading, incurred a puncture on the final lap and dropped to third behind the Ford GT driven by Harry Tincknell, Andy Priaulx and Pipo Derani.

In GTE-Am, British squad JMW Motorsport dominated with Dries Vanthoor, Will Stevens and Rob Smith winning by a margin of one minute.

JMW took the lead under the cover of darkness after the #98 Aston Martin Vantage encountered a puncture followed by a drive-through penalty for a pit infringement, which collectively cost three laps.