The Toyota Gazoo Racing #8 of Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima powered to victory at the Spa 6 Hours, the opening round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Belgium, the Spaniard triumphing on his LMP1 debut.
The McLaren driver shared the Toyota TS050 hybrid with former F1 drivers Buemi and Nakajima. The trio covered 163 laps around the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit which will also host a round of the F1 world championship later this year.
Alonso, in the cockpit for the final stint, survived a riveting pursuit by Mike Conway in the sister Toyota #7 which he shared with Kamui Kobayashi and José María López. Conway tried hard, but 'rookie' Alonso kept his composure in traffic and despite the pressure crossed the line to win by just over one second.
The victory, from pole, was Alonso's first in any motorsport championship since he won his home Spanish Grand Prix for Ferrari in 2013, indeed his lack of success at the pinnacle of the sport is what has resulted in the double world champion competing in the WEC. His well-known objective: the Triple Crown of Motorsports.
The Spaniard entered the Indy 500 last year, leading the race for a while before retiring.
Victory in his WEC debut sets him up well for the challenge of his first Le Mans 24 Hours race in June, where victory will further add to his stature as one of the great drivers of the current era.
In LMGTE Pro, the #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Team of Olivier Pla, Stefan Mücke and Billy Johnson claimed their first WEC victory after a race-long battle with the #91 Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre. The race came down to the final 45-minutes after a Safety Car gave Pla an opportunity to overtake the #91 Porsche of Richard Lietz which eventually came third in class.
The sister Ford GT, #67, driven by Harry Tincknell, crashed spectacularly in the second hour. The British driver thankfully emerged from the Ford GT uninjured.
LMP2 honours went to G-Drive Racing of ex-Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne, Andrea Pizzitola and Roman Rusinov. It was the team’s second success in as many years at Spa and its third in the last five events held at the Belgian venue.
Reigning LMGTE Am champions Aston Martin Racing took a fourth consecutive Spa win with former F1 driver Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla and Mathias Lauda.
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