Fernando Alonso took victory in his first WEC race – the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – as part of a crew together with Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. The double Formula 1 world champion was really happy with his achievement.
“The whole weekend has been amazing in terms of team performance. There have been a lot of preparations with the winter testing and all the work back at the factory but we have to come to the race and deliver the result. We executed the race in the best way we could and I am extremely happy to win my first endurance race. Sélbastien and Kazuki made my life a little bit easier so thanks to them”, Alonso commented.
? Yesssssss ? #toyota #win #team #8 #7 #spa #wec #victory @Toyota_Hybrid @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/VV4FzrTjU2
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) May 5, 2018
Buemi added: “We are all happy to begin the season like that. It is the first time for Kazuki and I to race together with Fernando so it was important to start it well. I don’t remember the last time we had so many safety cars in a six-hour race and that meant we lost our advantage a few times. But it all went well in the end so a big thanks to all the team for their hard work. This was just a warm-up for Le Mans so we still keep in mind that the next race is the important one.”
Nakajima was also happy with the win, particularly as his stint started badly.
“A lot happened and it cost us some time. There was a mistake from my side as well but from then I got back into the rhythm. The triple stint was tricky but I am happy with the job we did. It’s a great start and we will be working hard to make sure we continue like this”, he said.
Fernando Alonso took victory in his first WEC race – the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
The other Toyota with #7 was second in the race. The team had told its crews that they can race until the last pitstop but should keep position after that.
“It was weird starting from the pit lane but we knew what we had to do. We had some help from the safety car periods and the full course yellows, which went our way and helped us to get into the fight with the other LMP1 ones. Kamui [Kobayashi] and José [Maria Lopez] did a great job again. It’s disappointing not to win but a one-two is the perfect result for the team”, Mike Conway explained.
?”I will be here all night long, I did have enjoyed!” @alo_oficial
Happy Spaniard talks to #WEC TV crew! Congratulations to the whole @Toyota_Hybrid Crew again! pic.twitter.com/N0grSdvnL2
— WEC (@FIAWEC) May 5, 2018
