By Haydn Cobb

12 months can be a lifetime in motorsport but curiously returning♛ to the Circuit de la Sarthe for the first time since last June, the emotions are familiar to how we left it on that fateful Sunday last June.

The sto🏅ry has become one which will be trotted out year on year in the folklore of the Leও Mans 24 Hours, one to say 'I was there' when Toyota saw its dream of victory struck a cruel blow inside the final five minutes by a mechanical breakdown.

The story below is how the emotions overrode the occasion, when the flags and fans fell silen𝓡t and when a win for Porsche wasღ humbly but awkwardly accepted.

Walking aꦚround pitlane ༺during the traditional 'Class of 2017' photoshoot whenever the name 'Toyota' is mentioned by the forming crowds and media it is quickly followed by 'they have to win it this year'.

And heck, do they know it. Not only is it expanding its effort to a three-car LMP1 charge this year - while with no Audi, two Porsche LMP1 entries and the single ByKolles Racing🌊 effort it effectively makes a vastly unbalanced three v three - every one of Toyota's days since Le Mans have been purely focused on rewriting those final five minutes.

In a 24 hour race like Le Mans rarely does the result become deci♚ded by the final few minutes but the heart rates will be doubled if a TS050 Hybrid leads approaching the final lap.

In sport where fate can꧙ feel like a primary contributor to success, everything points to 2017 being ܫToyota's year.

If the Japanese manufacturer finds its way to the top step this Sunday afternoon the champag🐼ne and tears will flow once more, followed by those haunting memories and emotions.

Take a look back a the initial reaction to Toyota's cruel loss at last year's Le Mans✅ 24 Hours.

Originally published 23rd June 2016

Let's start wi🐷th an admission. This was the fir⛄st year this reporter has attended Le Mans 24 Hours and before travelling had looked to pick up as much insider knowledge to hopefully not get too lost.

The one reoccurring subject - aside from the big question of sleep (three𝓀 hours in a rental car) - was prepare to be emotional. I'm no stranger to emotions but I underestimated what I was being primed f♑or.

On three separate o🦹ccasions I witnessed grown men, some in the highest roles of the sport, openly crying before, during and after the race. Not only is Le Mans tagged as the greatest race in the world it also carries huge amounts💝 of emotional baggage.

Much of this is down to the💟 history of the event and the personal connection these individuals have to the Circuit de la Sarthe. Normally, if reputation, finances or emot📖ions are hit (looking at Nissan's LMP1 failure last year) teams will not return to make the same mistakes twice.

Toyota has been coming to Le Mans since the 1980s, starting with ♉Dome-prepared Group C cars before progressing to GT-One until it unleashed its LMP1 hybrid mega-beast in 2012, but is yet to walk away with the big trophy.

This must pain the Toyota hierarchy no end but this year the anguish will be notched up to its maximum because the #5 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima had won the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hou🅷rs.

It had built the best car and the drivers had𒅌 produced flawless stints. What it couldn't have foreseen was a combustion engine lasting 23 hours and 57 minutes. Plainly but painfully in a 24-hour race that isn't enough.

Creature comforts: Gerard Neveu, CEO of the FIA World Endurance Championship, hugs Toyota chiefs at the back of the Le Mans paddock after its heart-breaking mechanical failure

Questions will remain abou𝕴t why and whether it could have been avoide𒆙d, some might get answered in the coming weeks. One question we already know the answer to is Toyota had the race won until its mechanical woe snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and jammed a dagger into Toyota's heavy hearts.

Defeats in motorsport are met with a common set of emotions; anger, sadness and disappointment with a thorough investigation to avoid the same꧅ errors. The analytical approach will𝔉 have already started but the initial reaction was something of a phenomenon.

Firstly, confusion rained down wh✃en Nakajima stopped on the home straight after the start/finish line which had most onlookers thinking he had pulled up to celebrate a lap too early. After he failed to get moving again the realisation sent shockwaves through the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Choke hold: Kazuki Nakajima steps out of the stricken #5 Toyota TS050 on the home straight with victory in sight

Confusiꦯon turned into the tears pouring inside the Toyota garage, some members falling to their knees at the sight, while a ripple of celebration aroseꦑ in Porsche. The premeditated Toyota flags in the crowds fell sharply as most struggled to comprehend what was happening.

Then the most surreal moment. There was no chꦿeering or jeering, only the noise of over 250,000 motorsport fans coming to terms with the most ♑dramatic finishes in the history of Le Mans 24 Hours.

💟The atmosphere seemed to neutralise any Porsche celebrations a𒀰nd what stood out was the respect and grace the Porsche chiefs and drivers showed to Toyota.

Unprompted, key members walওked over to the Toyota garage to comfort and support the rivals they'd been fighting non-stop for 24 hours. The outpouring of sportsmanship made sure there really wasn't a dry eye toꩵ be found.

The magic of Le Mans remains in its many different forms but the emotional pain Toyota endur💟ed will scar until the Japanese🐈 manufacturer can once and for all add its name to the prestigious victors list.

Once t𓃲he tears and c🧔hampagne dries up it will drive Toyota and company on to come back again and again. This was sport at its meanest but the magic of Le Mans burns brightly.

Magic of Le Mans: Despite the bittersweet ending it was another magical Le Mans 24 Hours