"It was bad all the 24 hours," said Kubica.

It also capped an astonishing racing redemption story for the 40-year-old whose F1 career ended after a near-fatal rally crash in Italy in 2011 that partially severed his right forearm.

The race largely was a four-way fight between those cars, which all finished within 30 seconds of one another, though other Hypercar competitors did occasionally join the fray.