Alonso, Toyota Dominate Le Mans Test Day 1

[Paul Jeffrey]

Fernando Alonso made light work of his debut Le Mans running today, topping out the times in confident fashion aboard his Toyota TS050 Hybrid.

With the big race just a couple of short weeks away the action on track has finally started, with many of the teams and drivers taking to the legendary 8.467 mile Circuit de la Sarthe for the first day of official testing ahead of the race start on June 16th.

Today would be the first time at the circuit for several prominent drivers, with both Alonso in the Toyota and fellow LMP1 driver Jenson Button taking to the circuit in his new BR Engineering BR1-AER, the Briton having less running than would be ideal on his way to fifth overall in the timesheets, interrupted by a couple of time consuming issues in the Russian run privateer prototype:

"We lost a lot time because of a sensor issue this morning" said Button. "we lost a couple of hours just in the garage, it was a shame. Then we had another small issue after lunch, so our track on time was quite limited. I only ran one set of tyres, not a new set."

“I think I did 20 laps, but I learnt a lot. This place is all about building confidence and gaining time. You can go out and be as quick as you can, but there’s a big chance you’ll go off. You’ve really got to respect this circuit. It’s tough, but I feel very confident now at the end of the day."
​

Whilst Button had a few issues during his first time at the circuit, former McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso would have a much better time of things in his championship leading Toyota, the Spanish double World Champion looking confident from the outset as he led both morning and afternoon sessions, eventually finishing the day a very impressive six tenths up on the second place Rebellion, and a further three tenths ahead of his nearest Toyota team mate in third.

It would be a brave man who bets against Toyota and Alonso at Le Mans this June...

Top 3 LMP1

1. Toyota TS050 Hybrid #8 - Toyota Gazoo Racing - 3'19''066
2. Rebellion R13 - Gibson #3 - Rebellion Racing - 3'19''680
3. Toyota TS050 Hybrid #7 - Toyota Gazoo Racing - 3'20''008

Top 3 LMP2

1. Oreca 07 - Gibson #31 - DragonSpeed - 3'27''228
2. Oreca 07 - Gibson #48 - IDEC Sport - 3'27''252
3. Oreca 07 - Gibson #26 - G-Drive Racing - 3'28''394

Top 3 LMGTE Pro

1. Porsche 911 RSR #93 - Porsche GT Team - 3'52''551
2. Porsche 911 RSR #91 - Porsche GT Team - 3'52''647
3. Ford GT #67 - Chip Ganassi Team UK - 3'53''008

Top 3 LMGTE Am

1. Porsche 911 RSR #77 - Dempsey Proton Racing - 3'55''970
2. Ferrari 488 GTE #54 - Spirit of Race - 3'56''269
3. Ferrari 488 GTE #61 - Clearwater Racing - 3'56''672

Continue reading the rest of our 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans files or subscribe to our social media channels for instant updates during the 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Looking forward to Le Mans? Do you think anyone can challenge Toyota? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[formidable]

Alonso is a beast. He adapts easily in any car, and makes good times.

 

[Red_Falcon]

Alonso, Alonso, Alonso...

Still skeptical that the Privateers can keep up with Toyota.

Hope this is not going to become a farce :/

 

[Andrew Harper]

I need to look at the full times first but the LMP1 times make interesting reading.

The Rebellions were mighty fast in pre-season testing, and if you believe what was written Toyota threw the toys out of the pram because being the "premier class" they felt they should have a big advantage over the privateer LMP1's. Understandably if you were spending five times the amount of the other LMP1 teams I would be hacked off too! lol.

As it so happened they had a huge advantage over the rest of the field at Spa but the Rebellions with their very low drag bodywork could possibly be a thorn in the side at Le Mans.

Having said that though these times are only the test weekend. It's a game. All these teams are being assessed for BoP/EoT as well so if they lap too quickly the FIA/ACO will adjust the performance of the car. Ford played it beautifully a few years back and so this is all a chess game. However it seems they dominated the test weekend so I think they will probably get hit with a BoP change. Aston will be screaming for an adjustment. The new car is not working (or they are sandbagging hell of a lot).

Fernando is in the best car, no surprise he's quickest. However the Rebellions looks like they will be giving Toyota a run for their money at least in the first part of the race.

Summary from DailySportscar.com

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2018/...ltiple-improvements-in-afternoon-session.html

 

[Andrew Harper]

Alonso, Alonso, Alonso...

Yeah I'm afraid the YouTube chat was nothing but Alonso during the Rolex 24.

When the DPi's started to dominate they started to blame the other drivers in the car for not going quick enough! lol

 

[Richard Dastardly]

Talk about a clickbait article title - half a second over a 3 min+ lap is hardly "dominating" on a test day. Toyo aren't even 1-2, which is something of a pre-requisite. Can't remember splits off the top of my head, but I seem to remember the top Rebellion was equal to the top Toyo in one sector. The Ginettas might need a break - they're behind some LMP2s

BoP has turned GTE into a farce. I want to love it because I'm frankly more interested in GT cars, but I can't get excited when I know what's behind it all.

Where's the article on the amazing Blancpain race from yesterday? can't put something up because there's no F1 driver to put in the title? Think we're really all that shallow?

 

[Andrew Harper]

The Ginettas might need a break - they're behind some LMP2s

Yeah, they are struggling. I think 2018 will be a learning year for sure.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Where's the article on the amazing Blancpain race from yesterday?

We are a community powered site/forum so why not write an article about the amazing Blancpain race from yesterday and we click the feature button to show it on the frontpage.

Our site is not exclusive to just our staff writing pieces . Other contributions are very much welcome.

 

[farjam]

What was the pole time last year again?s andbaggers seems they had their ERS on "charging" mode lol

 

[Oscar Hardwick]

"Alonso sets fastest time in car developed to an order of 10s of millions of Euro more than the competition"

Thats how it should read. I'm just hoping Toyota keep to form and find a new interesting way to throw a guaranteed Le Mans win.

 

[Red_Falcon]

Yeah I'm afraid the YouTube chat was nothing but Alonso during the Rolex 24.

When the DPi's started to dominate they started to blame the other drivers in the car for not going quick enough! lol

Oh, dont get me wrong. I can't wait for the 24 Hours of Fernando Alonso...


Go Rebellion!

 

[CC]

We are a community powered site/forum so why not write an article about the amazing Blancpain race from yesterday and we click the feature button to show it on the frontpage.

Our site is not exclusive to just our staff writing pieces . Other contributions are very much welcome.

Some awesome articles recently from Leon and I noticed he got promoted to RD staff so there is opportunities as well, this is what makes RD a stand out community.

 

[T04STY]

God damn Porsches don't go that quick!!! Don't want to see you get slowed by the BOP D':

 

[Kasti]

According to Motorsports Aktuell the advantages given to Toyota by ACO and FIA sum up to 9 minutes for the race distance...

I just gonna watch to see them fail and a private LMP win.

 

[snyperal]

I would bet against Alonso. I think he's had some massive bad luck in his career and I don't think this will be any different.

Poor guy, I want him to win but he must've smashed a mirror or walked under a ladder a few years ago.

 

[headder]

As far we may noticed. The Rebellions were on par with hybrid Toyota's. That's great to see that this is not looking to be pure Toyota dominance at all after all.

Below, there are laptimes (thanks to Motorsport):

 

[apex11]

Loads of ex F1 drivers have washed up in Le Mans, loads of drivers spat out by F1.... I can't get excited by this same as with the Indy 500...... it's like we have to convince ourselves Alonso is the first F1 driver to do this.....fact is plenty have already done it....
So what?

 

[Richard Dastardly]

Loads of ex F1 drivers have washed up in Le Mans, loads of drivers spat out by F1.... I can't get excited by this same as with the Indy 500...... it's like we have to convince ourselves Alonso is the first F1 driver to do this.....fact is plenty have already done it....
So what?

"Washed up"..."spat out by F1". It's like this is some minor second-rate national event & not one of the oldest & hardest motorsport events there is. Results from test even bear it out - Mister World Champ in his hyper-expensive car is hardly faster than a bunch of swiss guys with 1/5th the budget who bought a chassis & hired some drivers most people haven't heared of. Want me to dig up all the *active* F1 drivers in the past who've gone to Le Mans ( and the WSC ) because they wanted to, not because they had nothing else to do? ( let's also not forget Alonso isn't even the only F1 champion in this race ).

I'd write up the Blancpain event - if I was a writer. I wish I could, it really deserved it, but I long ago accepted I'm never going to be a journalist. I was however partly making the point ( as I've done in this post too ) that there is more to motorsport than F1, other types of motorsport can stand up by themselves without needing some hyped F1 connection and you're really missing out by concentrating on some F1 hype element instead of viewing what's there as it is. Endurance racing is about teams, not drivers.

 

[snyperal]

Part of the joy of lemans/ endurance racing for me is looking through the line ups looking for names I recognize.

1 loony SIM racer & streamer
Plenty of ex f1 drivers
One f1 drivers son
One ex goalkeeper (I assume he's in this year )

It's like a line up of racing enthusiasts and heroes all battling fatigue, reliability and other teams just to make it to the end. I'd love to be a part of it. Great stuff!

 

[apex11]

"Washed up"..."spat out by F1". It's like this is some minor second-rate national event & not one of the oldest & hardest motorsport events there is. Results from test even bear it out - Mister World Champ in his hyper-expensive car is hardly faster than a bunch of swiss guys with 1/5th the budget who bought a chassis & hired some drivers most people haven't heared of. Want me to dig up all the *active* F1 drivers in the past who've gone to Le Mans ( and the WSC ) because they wanted to, not because they had nothing else to do? ( let's also not forget Alonso isn't even the only F1 champion in this race ).

I'd write up the Blancpain event - if I was a writer. I wish I could, it really deserved it, but I long ago accepted I'm never going to be a journalist. I was however partly making the point ( as I've done in this post too ) that there is more to motorsport than F1, other types of motorsport can stand up by themselves without needing some hyped F1 connection and you're really missing out by concentrating on some F1 hype element instead of viewing what's there as it is. Endurance racing is about teams, not drivers.

Your long rant makes my point for me..... why so much PR for Alonso? Plenty of drivers apparently not good enough for F1 have competed and won.....I am agreeing with you...

F1 is not the pinnacle but yet we get brainwashed into thinking it is...

I would say Buemi was 'spat out' of F1....for example...