Silverstone WEC: Alonso seeks third perfect weekend

While his F1 colleagues enjoy the final week of the summer break, the Spaniard is fired up for this weekend at Silverstone, "I am looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of a TS050 Hybrid again after a few weeks away."

"Of course, I have been pretty busy and I know the team has too, preparing for the challenge at Silverstone. Unlike Le Mans, this is a track I know really well and I have already experienced the new track surface, so I hope that can help the team to get a head start."

"So far the WEC season has been perfect so I want to keep that going this weekend," added Alonso.

The double world champion and current McLaren driver is partnered by former Formula 1 drivers Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.

Buemi said in his race preview, "I can't wait to be back in the car with Kazuki and Fernando. It's going to be a challenge and I'm looking forward to the fight. It will also be a pleasure to be there in August after years of visiting in April when it's pretty cold, so I have high hopes for the weather."

Nakajima added, "It will be interesting to see how the track character has changed after the resurfacing, plus we have our high-downforce package again. So we will have some busy practice sessions to get prepared."

Toyota Gazoo Racing returns to action two months after an emotional Le Mans 24 Hours victory with the third round of the 2018-2019 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the 6 Hours of Silverstone, in England this weekend.

Silverstone marks Toyota's 51st WEC race since it returned to top-level endurance racing in 2012. The previous 50 races included 18 victories, 16 pole and 45 podium positions, with a first-ever Le Mans triumph on 17 June a fitting way to reach the half-century.

Buemi, Nakajima and Alonso won the race from pole position in the #8 TS050 Hybrid following a race-long battle with the #7 car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López which finished second.

The victorious #8 chassis has been retired from service and preserved in its end-of-race condition. It appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed while Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda viewed the car during a visit to the team's Cologne base on 23 July, during which he met team members and gave them his personal congratulations.

Inspired by the reaction to Le Mans victory, the team targets another positive weekend at Silverstone as it looks to maintain its 100% start to the season and earn another one-two finish from pole position for its sixth consecutive WEC victory.

Toyota has finished on the podium at every visit to Silverstone since returning to the WEC in 2012, including two victories, but the team will have to re-learn some aspects of the British circuit, which has been completely resurfaced since the 2017 race.

The weekend sees a return for the high-downforce specification TS050 Hybrid, which delivers more grip in corners at the expense of top speed on the straights, for its first race of the season. That configuration is better suited to the specific demands of Silverstone, which includes sweeping high-speed corners.

Toyota will face a renewed challenge from six non-hybrid LMP1 cars following updates to the Equivalence of Technology (EoT) regulations designed to deliver more performance to its rivals. The non-hybrid cars will benefit from increased fuel flow, now 43.75% more than the TS050 Hybrid, and some will benefit from minimum weight reductions.

Whatever the case, the Silverstone objectives are clear to Toyota Gazoo Racing team president Hisatake Murata, "Our target is to again take the top step of the podium but we expect an increased challenge from our competitors so we must perform to the top of our game, like we did at Le Mans and Spa."