ALONSO MAKES A SPLASH AT DAYTONA

SPANIARD CLAIMS 24-HOUR GLORY IN FLORIDA

Fernando Alonso added another race win to his list of career victories last weekend after triumphing in the Daytona 24 Hours at the second attempt.

The two-time Formula 1 champion was instrumental in securing victory for the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac entry he shared with Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor and Kamui Kobayashi, starring in the wet conditions that characterised the latter part of the race.

He had pulled out a lead of 55 seconds on the opposition in the early hours of the morning before the race was red-flagged a first time, running almost three seconds a lap quicker than his nearest challengers.

He had just retaken the lead from the Action Express Cadillac of Felipe Nasr when action was halted for a second time with a little under two hours left on the clock, as Nasr went wide at Turn 1.

Speaking after the race, Alonso said the worsening conditions in the runup to the second stoppage were such that he was calling for the race to be neutralised before he passed Nasr.

“I called a lot of times, when I was second, over the radio that a safety car was necessary,” said Alonso. “The last five, seven laps of the race were not I think right, for anyone on track.

“The visibility was nearly zero, we could not be flat-out on the straights, the car was moving, the TC [traction control] was coming in sixth gear at 200mph, there were parts of different cars in different parts of the track, because people were losing bodywork here and there.”

Despite the tricky weather conditions, Alonso was delighted to win, telling NBCSN: “[It was] just an amazing experience with this team, from the test and now the race – a perfect execution of the race.

“[There were] very different conditions, we’ve been competitive in everything: dry and wet, night and day. [I’m] really happy for the team.”