- 21 Ιουν 2018, 19:20
#518305
LE CASTELLET, France -- Fernando Alonso says his victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours rates higher than anyone else's at the prestigious event since it started in 1923.
Alonso earned victory with Toyota teammates Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi last weekend. A key factor in the win was Alonso's epic stint -- his second of three -- in the early hours of Sunday morning, when the Spaniard significantly reduced the lead of the other Toyota car when the circuit was full of traffic at its darkest point.
The withdrawal of Audi and Porsche in recent years meant Toyota had no significant competition for the outright victory, although finishing the famous Le Mans endurance race is an achievement in itself -- especially for a team which had failed to win on 18 previous attempts. Alonso believes his will hold a special place in history.
When asked ahead of this weekend's French Grand Prix, where he returns to F1 duty with McLaren, if his win was devalued by the lack of opposition, Alonso replied: "Last year were only four cars, this year there were 10."
The two-time world champion was referring to Le Mans' entire premier LMP1 class. There were four cars in with a legitimate shot of winning in 2017 -- all of which were LMP1-Hybrid cars, with two each for Toyota and Porsche. This year the entire LMP1 field consisted of ten cars, but only two of them (the Toyotas) were LMP1-Hybrids
He continued: "It was a great challenge. I put this victory in a higher level than any other victory in Le Mans."
http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/238 ... eatest-all
Όταν σας λέω εγώ ότι είναι βλαμμένος...
Alonso earned victory with Toyota teammates Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi last weekend. A key factor in the win was Alonso's epic stint -- his second of three -- in the early hours of Sunday morning, when the Spaniard significantly reduced the lead of the other Toyota car when the circuit was full of traffic at its darkest point.
The withdrawal of Audi and Porsche in recent years meant Toyota had no significant competition for the outright victory, although finishing the famous Le Mans endurance race is an achievement in itself -- especially for a team which had failed to win on 18 previous attempts. Alonso believes his will hold a special place in history.
When asked ahead of this weekend's French Grand Prix, where he returns to F1 duty with McLaren, if his win was devalued by the lack of opposition, Alonso replied: "Last year were only four cars, this year there were 10."
The two-time world champion was referring to Le Mans' entire premier LMP1 class. There were four cars in with a legitimate shot of winning in 2017 -- all of which were LMP1-Hybrid cars, with two each for Toyota and Porsche. This year the entire LMP1 field consisted of ten cars, but only two of them (the Toyotas) were LMP1-Hybrids
He continued: "It was a great challenge. I put this victory in a higher level than any other victory in Le Mans."
http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/238 ... eatest-all
Όταν σας λέω εγώ ότι είναι βλαμμένος...
