Mexican LMP2 win still sinking in for home-hero Gonzalez

Gonzalez claimed LMP2 pole position and victory for the RGR Sport by Morand squad along with Bruno Senna and Filipe Albuquerque in his home event – watched by over 38,000 passionate fans.

"I think it is going to take a while to sink in," said Gonzalez. "We knew since the beginning of the year that we were competitive. We won the first race but it is such a tough category that to win again you never know when it is going to happen.

"At the end of the race, it was nerve-racking. I didn't even want to watch the TV anymore and I wanted to fast-track the clock.

"The podium was very special to have the people singing the anthem. It was very nice, it is going to sink in my brain forever."

Overcoming time-consuming spins

The race featured a controversial moment when Gonzalez was tipped into a spin by class rival Roman Rusinov of the G-Drive team.

But that car lost a likely victory when a brake disc exploded late on, and the win came down to the Mexican team versus the French Signatech Alpine squad.

After the race, Senna – who also suffered a brief spin – paid tribute to his teammates: "The guy who won the race for us today was Mr Albuquerque. Ricardo as well did a fantastic job in his stint."

A late-race rain shower complicated Albuquerque's sprint to the finish, but he held on for a famous victory over Signatech's Nicolas Lapierre.

"He was catching me back and when the rain came I knew what he was thinking – he was taking risks to put pressure on me," said Albuquerque.

"It was a mental game and I had to just keep it steady. In the end I wanted this win so bad for the team. It was very important for them: I knew how special it would be on the podium.

"I'm not a Mexican but I almost had a tear in my eye with everyone singing the national anthem. It was so special and now maybe Bruno and I will get a Mexican passport."