Cruel misfortune 'heartbreaking' for Seb on Le Mans debut

But with the equivalent of a Formula One race still to go, that prize was snatched away – a sudden suspension failure undoing the hard work of he and his Dempsey-Proton team.

‘Le Mans chooses who it wants to be on the podium,’ said the shattered driver in the garage as the chosen few celebrated just above the pit lane.

‘To finish here is a dream, obviously I wanted to be on the podium and we had a good chance to be today, but it happens over Le Mans really.’

His Porsche, which he shares with teammates Harry Tincknell and Christian Ried, had qualified third in its class and was running to form before the incident, which happened with the 21-year-old at the wheel.

‘It’s heartbreaking, but at least we weren’t leading otherwise I would have probably been crying.

‘Harry, Christian and myself did a great job this whole day of racing. I’m tired, I’m ready for my bed,’ he said while also praising the work of his whole team, who worked tirelessly all week – and feverishly for 20 minutes to get his stricken car back on the track.

And the chance to rest would have been as well-received as it was hard-earned.

Having lined up alongside 185 other drivers at Saturday’s start, Priaulx put in a two-hour stint – longer than he had slept since – to bring home his car 14th in its class in front of a huge crowd at the finish of one of the world’s most famous races.

• Watch out for a full feature on Seb Priaulx's Le Mans debut in the Guernsey Press later this week