The two Porsches were the first cars to cover over 5000 km in the race, easily beating that milestone. Putting it in context, it was equivalent to crossing the Atlantic, from Le Mans to Maine in 24 hours. It was a distance record that stood for a remarkable 39 years until beaten by Audi in 2010. What was significant this year was that virtually no car had a trouble-free run, with a number of engine, gearbox and suspension rebuilds required keeping all the pitcrews very busy.