American actor slash racecar driver Patrick Dempsey celebrated his best result as a race driver with Porsche Sunday finishing second at the 24 Hours Le Mans Endurance race in the GTE Amateur category.

Dempsey achieved the feat while behind the wheel of the 470 hp 911 RSR, as some 260,000 spectators witnessed the 83rd running of the endurance classic in France.

"I think it's hard to put into words how much it means to be on the podium in Le Mans. Phenomenal effort and support from Porsche," an emotional Dempsey told a French TV network following the race. "It's an amazing accomplishment. You always dream about a moment like this. I've worked really hard over the last three years to make this happen and I'm here. Vive la France!"

As noted by AutoWeek.com, Dempsey's teammates at his third Le Mans mission with Porsche were Porsche works driver Patrick Long of the USA, and Marco Seefried of Austria, with whom he competes with in the Sports Car World Endurance Championships.

The AutoWeek.com report points out that the trio put in a strong team effort in their first joint Le Mans campaign. In the final phase of what is widely considered the world's toughest automobile race, they made a push after falling back slightly in the field.

Long was able to battle his way back into third place by midday banking on his skill and experience honed from his 12 Le Mans starts. Seefried, for his part, turned in a faultless final stint, and crossed the finish line in second place.

Said Dempsey, "Le Mans is a wonderful race. It's always a great experience to compete here. For us, the last race hour was a particularly tough battle, but the whole team did everything they possibly could. Luckily, we were rewarded with a podium result. For that alone, all the hard work of the last weeks and months were worthwhile. I'm proud of the team."