But the Japanese driver started to go when he saw what he believed to be a marshal instructing him to leave the pits, only to be told on the radio to stop again - in the process destroying his TS050 Hybrid's clutch and setting up the car's demise on the first racing lap once the safety car withdrew.
"Kamui was put in a position where he had to use the clutch with the combustion engine to start," Toyota technical director Pascal Vasselon told Autosport.
"The clutch is not built for this. There was a succession of two or three [failed] starts, and the clutch was done."
The 'marshal' was later identified to be LMP2 driver Vincent Capillaire, whose Algarve Pro Racing team occupied the final garage in the pitlane, close to where Kobayashi was being held.
"On Saturday evening, during the race, I was waiting for my relay, [with my] helmet on the head at my box," said Capillaire in a Facebook statement.
"I wanted to show my encouragement to the lead car, [which was] stopped at [the] red light a few metres in front of my box. It was a spontaneous encouragement.
"I was fined by Stewards for this gesture, and I admit it was inopportune. I regret that."
Speaking to French newspaper L'Equipe, Vasselon added he hoped that Capillaire would apologise to Toyota for potentially costing the team the prize that has eluded it for so long.
"We understood there were no bad intentions in his behaviour, but he did not think about all the consequences of his gesture," said Vasselon.
