The happy smile on the face of Fernando Alonso after taking off his helmet said it absolutely everything. After nearly five years of drought, the Spanish rider was able to at last taste the honey of victory in a race motor-racing career by winning the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps, next to their mates Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, in a race that ended up complicated you much more than initially anticipated.
Having completed a total of 2 hours and 40 minutes to the front of the Toyota #8, the Spanish driver received the car in the lead with an advantage more than optimal on the slower cars of Rebellion, and, after letting Kamui Kobayashi desdoblase with the #7 after several laps of intense, kept a good pace, especially in his first stint.
things had changed greatly in the second, with a third Safety Car that neutralized his advantage to the minimum factor. Despite having a rate lower than that of Mike Conway, a series of warnings on the sensors of both cars, and the desire of Toyota to not force a situation that will regardless of means to the race two, forced a drastic drop of rhythm in the Alonso, and Conway kept distances until the end by order of the team.
“Basically, we have led all the laps. There were three Safety Cars and we lost the advantage we had, but we kept the positions until the last lap”, commented to the media Alonso, who described his day as “a debut fantastic for (my) first race in the Endurance World”, and he praised the good work of their peers. “A work of awesome equipment, two finish in qualifying and in the race. Kazuki and Sébastien to me they made life a little easier to escape at the beginning“.
Trophy time in the Spa! #Toyota #TS050 #6hSpa #PushingTheLimitsForBetter pic.twitter.com/AdoAIBlNDX
— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WEC (@Toyota_Hybrid) may 5, 2018
With his victory, Alonso has become the fourth Spanish rider in history, after Emilio de Villota, Jesus Pareja and Marc Gené, to achieve an absolute victory in the World of Resistance. The pilot spaniard, which was commissioned to remember a laugh that had “won a couple of races in karts” since his victory in Montmeló and in 2013, staged the sensations that suppose to return on the podium, something that has not occurred since the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2014: “I was saying to Kazuki and Sébastien: ,’It’s great to feel the podium! I’m going to spend all night here’“.
The win at Spa it will be history soon: Le Mans is the next goal, and Alonso believes that the “preparation” obtained on the day of today, it is more valid: “Is a warm-up for Le Mans, as a test, but with points at the fall of the checkered flag. we Wanted to prove ourselves in proper conditions of race with other teams, putting the pilots and mechanics under stress, and we have achieved a doublet. we Are ready for Le Mans. Without a doubt, the race is much harder, many problems can arise in 24 hours, but we are as prepared as possible. I will be with confidence in the race”.
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