Porsche was able to celebrate success in the LMP2 class of the Le Mans 24 Hours for the second successive season, although the GT2 class turned out to be disappointing as Ferraro dominated

Having finished second last season, Team Essex secured class honours with a 14 lap winning margin over its closest challenger in the hands of Casper Elgaard, Emmanuel Collard and WTCC racer Kristian Poulsen.

"After claiming second last year we are absolutely over the moon with our victory today," Elgaard said. "This is a huge success for our Danish team, which only began competing in long distance racing last year."

Porsche had looked good for a 1-2 finish in class, with the NAVI Team Goh entered car running second place before Seiji Ara was caught out on oil heading into the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight and went off heavily into the barriers.

"I had no chance," he said. "Two wheels hit the oil that I couldn't see while braking. It's a bitter end of a great race. I'm pleased that the RS Spyder is not only fast, but also safe."

GT2 however turned into a race of disappointment for Porsche, with none of the 997 RSRs entered in the race classified at the finish as Ferrari dominated. Indeed, the lone Spyker was the only non-Ferrari running at the finish.

Amongst the main disappointments was the performance of the Felberymayr-Proton entered car shared by factory drivers Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz and Wolf Henzler which stopped with a fuel problem on the entrance to the pit lane and refused to restart in the early hours of the event.

"Of course I'm very disappointed," Lieb said. "But we are looking ahead and already looking forward to the next race in the Le Mans Series, where we want to extend our championship lead with another victory."