Alonso wins 1st round of WEC at Spa on debut

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso's Toyota TS050 hybrid No. 8 topped the podium at the first round of 2018 World Endurance Championship (WEC), after starting from pole position. The other Toyota started from the pits and finished in second position.

In the season-opening Six Hours of Spa, the McLaren F1 driver shared driving duties with Japan's Kazuki Nakajima and Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi. This is the Spaniard's first victory in any international motorsport event since his 2013 F1 victory in the Spanish Grand Prix for Ferrari.

Alonso's car lead most of the race. However, by the halfway mark, the No. 7 Toyota had moved up to the second position. With Nakajima at the wheel, the No. 8 car was forced to pit for unsecured seat belts. Despite this extra pit stop, the No. 8 car was ahead by over a minute. Until the very end, the two Toyotas lead the race 1-2 with a gap of less than a minute, followed by the two Rebellion Racing cars. A late safety car saw the cars being bunched up with Alonso in the leading position followed by Mike Conway in the car behind him. In the end, Alonso took the chequered flag 1.4 seconds ahead of the other Toyota.

Alonso is attempting the Triple Crown of Motorsport, which includes winning the Formula One championship or the Monaco GP, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indianapolis 500. Britain's Graham Hill is the only other driver to have achieved this feat.

The top 5 positions in the LMP1 category are as follows:

1. Sebastien Buemi / Kazuki Nakajima/ Fernando Alonso - Toyota Gazoo Racing
2. Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / Jose Maria Lopez - Toyota Gazoo Racing
3. Mathias Beche / Thomas Laurent / Gustavo Menezes - Rebellion Racing
4. Oliver Webb/ Dominik Kraihamer / Dillmann - ByKolles Racing Team
5. Mikhail Aleshin / Vitaly Petrov / Ho-Pin Tung - SMP Racing

Source - Motorsport.com