Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 – in pictures

54 cars line up for the 82nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, with Toyota on pole followed by Porsche and then Audi. Photograph: Richard White

The Nissan Zeod RC, an experimental car, it sadly only lasted five laps of the eight and a half-mile circuit but had achieved its aim of running an entire lap on electric power only, during the warm-up Photograph: Richard White

A fan favourite, the No74 Corvette at full chat. Photograph: Richard White

Two Aston Martins enter the start-finish straight in the shadow of the big wheel. Photograph: Richard White

Porsche made their return to Le Mans after a sixteen-year absence and performed well. The No20 919 of Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard led with two and a half hours to go but had to retire with a powertrain failure while the No14, powering through the Porsche Curves above, made it until shortly before 1pm on Sunday before a gearbox failure ended its bid. Photograph: Richard White

The No1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Tom Kristensen, Lucas di Grassi and Marc Gene, it led for part of the race but was delayed after a turbo-charger had to be replaced, then came back to claim second place. Photograph: Richard White

Fans crowd the banks above the Forest Esses as dusk falls at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Photograph: Richard White

Aston Martin's crew ready for a late-night stop. Photograph: Richard White

Middle of the night and fans remain alert, lit by the glow from the fairground. Photograph: Richard White

Night lights on for the No58 Ferrari of Team Sovrev that finished eighth in GTE AM. Photograph: Richard White

Pit stop complete, the Rebellion LMP1 car gets the go ahead to blast back out on track. Photograph: Richard White

The No7 TS040 Toyota passes traffic in the Ford Chicane, it largely led until the 14th hour when a problem with the electrical loom forced its retirement. The sister No8 car of Anthony Davidson, Nicolas Lapierre and Sébastien Buemi took third place, recovering after an accident in wet conditions early in the race. Photograph: Richard White

Aston Martin and Ferrari go wheel-to-wheel through the Porsche Curves. Photograph: Richard White

Nice lines: the Larbre Competition Morgan Judd LMP2 flashes past the fans. Photograph: Richard White

A final driver change for the No2 Audi of Benoît Tréluyer, Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer, it too suffered problems and required a change of turbo-charger but was leading in the final hours. Photograph: Richard White

Taking the flag together, the winning No1 Audi is joined by the No2 to cross the finish line, a one-two for the marque that had had looked unlikely before the race began but Audi's reliability and pace proved a winning combination as attrition took its toll. Photograph: Richard White

Benoît Tréluyer (in the car), Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer celebrate their win alongside Audi’s head of motorsport, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (right), it was the 13th victory in 16 years for the German marque at Le Mans. Photograph: Richard White