[glikithvinayaka]

One of the greatest and most well-known spectacles in the world; without the 24 Hours of Le Mans, endurance racing would not exist. Created in 1923 by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the main event on the WEC calendar with double Championship points awarded at the end of the world's greatest motorsport event.
The track has 38 turns and is 13.626Kms long.
The event will be held on 16 Jun 2018-17 Jun 2018.

Toyota driver Fernando Alonso topped the times at the official Le Mans test day on his first experience of the track.
Alonso improved on his 3m21.468s morning best in the afternoon, setting a time of 3m19.066s to leapfrog back ahead of team mate Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota by almost a second.

Test Day - Toyota #8



Test Day morning session start



Test Day - Dragonspeed #31



Test Day - Porsche #77



Test Day - Fernando Alonso



Official picture of the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans!



The Track

[RM Motorsports]

Fernando Alonso made the perfect start in his preparations for his Le Mans 24 Hours debut by topping the timesheets in the first official test.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/alonso...at-at-le-mans/

[glikithvinayaka]

The #7 Toyota led the way in Le Mans 24 Hours practice, with a late improvement from Sebastien Buemi in the sister #8 car securing the manufacturer a session 1-2.

Jose Maria Lopez had recorded a 3m19.626s lap aboard the #7 TS050 Hybrid with around an hour of the four-hour session remaining, but that effort was trumped with 10 minutes left by Kamui Kobayashi, who lowered the benchmark by another nine tenths.

His eventual best of 3m18.718s was more than two and a half seconds faster than the best time set at the test day earlier this month, which two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso managed in the sister #8 car.

Buemi moved the #8, which had spent the majority of the session outside the top three, up to second with a 3m19.275s on his final lap.



Source

[Hatari]

Being the only LMP1 manufacturer, Toyota's race strategy will be interesting.

Surely they can afford to tone down the engines a tad to ensure better reliability.

[vivee90]

Although this year's race has lot more star drivers and new entrants, it is a pity there aren't any direct competition to the LMP1 Hybrids of Toyota. Toyota deserves to win this event with strong competition from the likes of Porsche or Audi. Nevertheless, this race is a spectacle of a kind and looking forward to the race day.

[glikithvinayaka]

Fernando Alonso will start his first Le Mans 24 Hours from pole after team-mate Kazuki Nakajima qualified fastest.

The Japanese, an ex-Williams Formula 1 driver, set a lap in final qualifying on Thursday two seconds faster than the best achieved by the sister Toyota.

The Toyotas are effectively in a class of their own at the sportscar race this year and one of their cars will almost certainly win if they prove reliable.

A Le Mans win would give Alonso part two of motorsport's 'triple crown'.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Being the only LMP1 manufacturer, Toyota's race strategy will be interesting.

Surely they can afford to tone down the engines a tad to ensure better reliability.

With the exit of Porsche and Audi, it is Toyota's race to lose!

I do hope Alonso wins - he needs some success to reflect his skills.

[rohitoasis]

In an age where all racing series see improvement in lap times, Toyota seems to be a scond slower than last years qualifying lap. But even that is 4 seconds off the next competitor.

With all Toyota cars at least 2 seconds a lap faster than competition and FIA trying best to equalize the field with EOT, the internet is abuzz with this discussion this year.

While we knew Toyota always had the pace, let us hope they turn it down a notch this year in an attempt to reliably finish the entire 24 hours to wipe out heartbreaks like 2016. Somewhere in a forum there was a rather sweet comparison of Toyota's attempt at Le Mans till date to Charlie Brown kicking football. Here's hoping Charlie finally gets to kick the football.

[ChiragM]

Not going to be watching the race this year due to WiFi issues

Anyways, here is the start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUrWQmu1TFs

[TSIboy]

The order as of now...

LMP1 Class
1. #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
2. #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
3. #3 Rebellion Racing (Rebellion R13)

LMP2 Class
1. #26 G-Drive Racing (Oreca 07)
2. #23 PanisBarthez Compétition (Ligier JS P217)
3. #36 Signatech Alpine Matmut (Alpine A470)

LMGTE Pro Class
1. #92 Porsche GT Team
2. #91 Porsche GT Team
3. #68 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA

LMGTE Am Class
1. #77 DempseyProton Racing (Porsche 911RSR)
2. #85 Keating Motorsports (Ferrari 488 GTE)
3. #54 Spirit of Race (Ferrari 488 GTE)

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

Not going to be watching the race this year due to WiFi issues

Anyways, here is the start:

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=cUrWQmu1TFs

Which is the best place to watch it online?

[ChiragM]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Which is the best place to watch it online?

There are a few live streams on YouTube.

Here is one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPMsu8sOkLs

[Vid6639]

One more but without commentary. You can open another youtube tab and listen to Radio Le Mans in the second link. Sync both the videos using the race countdown timer and it's perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4meLujYKWag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pekORslthM

[Hatari]

Great result for Toyota No 8! and Alonso!
His night stint pulling back the No 7 car lead was special.

One step closer to the Triple Crown!

[MadiMaama]

Toyota finally break their curse and lead a 1-2 finish. Alonso , Buemi and Nakajima in the number 8 car win by 2 laps over Kobayshi, Conway and Lopez. The Rebellion of Beche, Laurent and Menches complete an all LMP1 podium. Vergne, Rusitov and Pizzitola fins fifth overall and claim LMP2 honours