Fernando Alonso finishes (and wins) his first endurance race

Fernando Alonso claimed a win during his 2018 World Endurance Championship (WEC) debut at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps together with Toyota Gazoo Racing. The Spaniard was driving together with Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, and was his first major race victory for a long time.

Despite qualifiying in second place, car #8 managed to finish 1.44 seconds ahead of the #7 TS050 driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López. This was because the latter was given a penalty due to a technical infringement which led to Alonso's #8 car being promoted to pole poition.

"I am delighted to get this result. 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. Sébastien and Kazuki made my life a little bit easier so thanks to them," said Alonso.

Apart from competing in WEC, Alonso is also competing in Formula 1 where he currently places 6^th overall in the driver's standing. The two-time F1 champion is trying to chase for motorsport's 'Triple Crown', which includes winning the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Currently, the only driver to achieve this feat is Graham Hill.

Whether or not Alonso and Toyota will be able to claim a win at the Le Mans, we will have to wait and see. Let's just hope the TS030 racer doesn't give up the ghost five minutes from the end. The 24 Hours of Le Mans will be held on June 16 to 17.