McLaren driver Fernando Alonso helped guide the Toyota Gazoo team to their maiden Le Mans 24 Hours win today. The Spaniard teamed up with former F1 drivers Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima to participate in the iconic race.
The #8 Toyota took the lead after an impressive night time stint from Alonso. From then onwards, the #8 remained unchallenged in the final six hours of the day-long race. They led a 1-2 finish for Toyota. The #7 TS050 Hybrid sister car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez finished a lap down in 2nd. The second car suffered a fuel flow problem in the closing stages of the race.
The final podium spot went to the #3 Rebellion R13-Gibson of Mattias Beche, Gustavo Menezes and Thomas Laurent.
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via Imago
Toyota Gazoo Racing
In LMP2, it was the G-Drive Racing’s Roman Rusinov, Jean-Eric Vergne and Andrea Pizzitola emerged victorious. They beat the #36 Signatech Alpine Matmut car of Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Pierre Thiriet.
In third place was the #39 Graff-SO24 of Tristan Gommendy and his co-drivers. The Porsche GTE teams dominated qualifying earlier in the weekend and later the race itself. Porsche’s #92 GT Team entry in GTE Pro, with the ‘Pink Pig’ 911 RSR of Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor beat fellow #91 car which finished in second place in the premier GT category.
The #68 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team USA car finished in third place in GTE Pro through the services Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Sebastien Bourdais. Ford posed a threat for second in an intense battle around the 13.626km-long circuit.
In GTE Am, actor/racer Patrick Dempsey’s #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing machine was victorious, with Matt Campbell, Julien Andlauer and Christian Ried taking the chequered flag. Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE of Giancarlo Fisichella, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flöhr that finished in second place and 29th overall.
The #85 Ferrari 488 crew of Keating Motorsports stood on the final step of the GTE Am podium, with Jeroen Bleekemolen taking the chequered flag after 24 hours having shared driving duties with Ben Keating and Luca Stolz.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the race.
He’s done it! @alo_oficial WINS the 24 Hours of Le Mans! 🏁🏆 Congratulations to him and his Toyota teammates. 👏 #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/WOupaDBEat
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 17, 2018
Expecting @alo_oficial to announce his move to @IndyCar before the European season is finished #LeMans24
— Alex Todd (@alxtodd) June 17, 2018
Congratulations to @Toyota_Hybrid and to all the drivers for a 1-2 at the #LeMans24 🎉💪🏻 you never gave up and finally get the win you deserve and first win for Toyota in the LM24! 😀 https://t.co/Jx81FlAH8a
— Petter Solberg (@Petter_Solberg) June 17, 2018
The #TripleCrown is only relevant because Alonso won't win another F1 World Title #LeMans24 #UnpopularOpinion
— Adam Caffrey (@adamcaffrey) June 17, 2018
Damn last 30 mins of 24hr of #LeMans24 didn’t record. Congrats to Toyota it took all the other manufacturers to quit for you to win but you’ve done it! pic.twitter.com/yo7vMSS2Jy
— Erb (@sportsnut8829) June 17, 2018
Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi AND Fernando Alonso won the #LeMans24 Hour race today. Important to remember that
— Jack Prentice (@JPrentice8) June 17, 2018
Well done @Toyota_Hybrid for finally winning the @24hoursoflemans. Fully deserved #LeMans24 @FIAWEC >>> pic.twitter.com/X8Za8YoRzw
— Charl Bosch (@CharlBosch) June 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/dom0006/status/1008355679852261376
Totally worth the wait! 🏁🏆🍾🎉#Toyota #TS050 #LeMans24 #PushingTheLimitsForBetter pic.twitter.com/rPj2KXcQNG
— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WEC (@Toyota_Hybrid) June 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/zdravkost/status/1008355402474491905
Toyota's win at this year's #LEMANS24 is gonna boost the popularity of the brand. #Toyota #TS050
— Neko_16Bit_Gamer🎮 (@KuchingKing888) June 17, 2018
.@Toyota_Hybrid: @alo_oficial's @24hoursoflemans debut 'exceptional'. https://t.co/pmFimnO3Fh via @autosport #WEC #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/1ZzGvzdlU0
— Federico Famiglietti (@RacingFede) June 17, 2018
I don’t think @alo_oficial has ever had a car to run for 24 hours much less win a 24hr race. Lol #LeMans24
— Ronda (@RondaIsaac) June 17, 2018
Wow, surprise surprise… The Toyota Gazoo Racing Hybrid won the 24 Hours of #LeMans24, becoming only the second Japanese manufacturer to ever do so.
— XmasHour (Johnny) (@ZroHour) June 17, 2018
Congratulations to @alo_oficial and co-drivers #Nakajima and #Buemi on their fantastic win in the #LeMans24! Well done all of you! 🏁
— Elizabeth De Rosa (@elizabeth_coral) June 17, 2018
Alonso @alo_oficial is 100x better than @LewisHamilton #LeMans24 , what a performance. congratulations.
— Al Loozo (@mwk360) June 17, 2018
@PatrickDempsey What a fairy tale to your story…been watching it from the beginning and this must be the most perfect feeling. You have put your name into the book of Le Mans legends….that must be such an incredible feeling and is fully deserved. Congratulations! #LEMANS24
— Big 18 (@VillageTrundler) June 17, 2018
Ive never really been one for endurance racing, but after watching the 2016 finish, this win for #Toyota felt like it was long overdue, congratulations to them and their win at the #LeMans24 win!
— Devin Kelleher (@Devin_Kelleher) June 17, 2018
If you still have doubts about owning a #hybrid, well @Toyota_Hybrid just won #LEMANS24 with one! Congrats https://t.co/7v9bhP00Gf
— Andre Moreira (@andrepmoreira) June 17, 2018
@alo_oficial is the second active driver to win two of the three races that makes Tripple Crown of Motorsport after @jpmontoya n he is the second active #F1 drive to win #LEMANS24 after @HulkHulkenberg. Congratulations young man! U r one of the Motorsport greats
— One life, Live it.. (@smokgwe) June 17, 2018
What a massive achievement! A Formula 1 World Champion and a Le Mans winner – Huge congrats to @alo_oficial 🎉🎉👏👏 Would love to see him complete the triple crown! Ultimate respect for the guy – born a winner! #F1 #LeMans24 https://t.co/KDrMoKUwVE
— Jenna-Lea Portess (@jenna_lea_98) June 17, 2018
It’s been 4 years since your last podium & 6 since your last win! My friend go and fix your car, you dey here the tweet about #LeMans24 https://t.co/dTT9fHvh7B
— King Benji of House CastleBridge (@geemen3D) June 17, 2018
Congrats to @Sebastien_buemi & the @Toyota_Hybrid Team!#WEC #LeMans24 #Toyota #ToyotaHybrid #ToyotaGazooRacing 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/IhUry1zjMj
— raven b. barahan (@ravenblu_07) June 17, 2018
@alo_oficial congratulations on you're amazing win at the #LeMans24, you're 2/3 of the way to the triple crown I'll be cheering for you at the #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/sXLR3jmZge
— yaboitheshitpost (@jasperhiel2) June 17, 2018
Congratulations @alo_oficial and the Toyota crew for winning Le Mans 👌❤️ Well deserved win you guys! Now sit back, and make sure you all get some well deserved rest! #LeMans24 #Toyota #FernandoAlonso pic.twitter.com/uIVN1ABspE
— Zesty💜🎮😋 (@RileyChesters) June 17, 2018
@alo_oficial is a #LeMans24 winner 👏👏👏🏆
— Pascal (@michstizzy) June 17, 2018
#MonacoGP ✅#LeMans24 ✅#Indy500… ❓
Fernando Alonso claims part two of motorsport's elusive Triple Crown 👑 pic.twitter.com/uOoN2Fya4w
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 17, 2018
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The sunsets on Le Mans #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/FEqeOOs2mn
— David Davies (@WaveydavyPA) June 17, 2018
"Mama, I'm a Le Mans winner" 😇 #LeMans24 #WEC #Alonso pic.twitter.com/4InFRTS0CT
— Nikola 🇸🇿 (@alokin2411) June 17, 2018
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https://twitter.com/Danielvdhoek_/status/1008359586431209472
