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Toyota breaks its curse, Alonso feeling the 'rhythm of the night' - Top 5 moments of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Toyota made history this past weekend when it clinched a maiden victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The started the race from pole position and never looked back, going on to dominate the race with a 1-2 finish.

A dominant display

Toyota joins Mazda as the only Japanese manufacturers to win the event, when they did so back in 1991.

READ: Toyota on the brink of Le Mans glory

Car number 8 consisting of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Fernando Alonso crossed the finish line first while its sister car driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez came in second.

Check out the top 5 moments of the 24 Hours of Le Mans:

1. Toyota's first historic win

After more than 20 attempts and many heart-breaking moments later, Toyota finally won its first 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

Toyota prevailed where others faltered, even though they were culpable of a few penalties during the race but that would do little to change the outcome of the race. 

2. Popping drain covers

Such is the speeds with which drivers push their cars at Le Mans, that drain covers along the track came loose, posing a hazard for all racers.

A safety car needed to be deployed as track officials cleared excess debris on the track and replace a loose drain cover.

It just shows the effects of downforce and diffuser pressure as cars attain blistering speeds across the track.

3. Rhythm of the night

Fernando Alonso was clearly in the mood for racing at Le Mans, even offering to continue his night driving stint to his team saying he has the 'rhythm of the night.'

Commentators saw the funny side and likened the phrase to the Fedde Le Grand song of the same name.

4. Penalty for missing a fuel stop

It seemed to be a case of 'oh no, not again' for Toyota when Kamui Kobayashi in the number 7 car slowed down to 80km/h with what seemed like a fueling problem heading towards the end of the race.

The Toyota missed an expected pitstop and almost ran out of fuel. The number 8 car was handed a 10 second stop/go penalty for exceeding the amount of allowed fuel.

Thankfully for Toyota, none of these majorly affected its race.

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