ALONSO MAKES LMP1 TEST DEBUT
Toyota bosses remain coy on the chances of Fernando Alonso driving for the team again after the Spaniard completed more than 100 laps on his LMP1 debut in Bahrain last weekend.
Alonso got behind the wheel of the TS050 Hybrid as part of the World Endurance Championship Rookie Test at Sakhir and completed a total of 113 laps across his day.
Despite Toyota claiming that Alonso did not conduct a low-fuel run or go for an outright lap time, his best lap of 1m43.013s compared well to regular racer Mike Conway’s 1m42.381s benchmark.
Alonso has repeatedly spoken about his desire to race in the Le Mans 24 Hours as part of his quest to win the Triple Crown of world motorsport – coupling Le Mans and the Indy 500 with his Monaco GP victory.
“I think a test in an LMP1 is always a nice thing for any racing driver,” said Alonso. “These cars are amazing to drive and very consistent in stints. One day I would like to race in endurance. I don’t know when, but endurance is one of our goals for me in the future after F1.”
Toyota’s technical director Pascal Vasselon said: “We did not do any low-fuel runs and we did not do any quali runs – there was no trophy to win for him here today. We’ve done a bit more work with Fernando. After getting more familiar with the car in the afternoon he did some tyre testing, complementing what Mike [Conway] was doing in the other car.”
When asked if Alonso could join Toyota’s next scheduled test in December, Vasselon said: “At the moment, this was just a fantastic opportunity [to have Alonso test]. We have time now to think about the future.”
New Formula V8 3.5 champion Pietro Fittipaldi tested with Porsche as part of his prize for winning the nowdefunct single-seater championship.