Breaking news
WEC
Alonso won't suffer from missing WEC Prologue - Toyota
Toyota believes Fernando Alonso will not be handicapped by skipping the pre-season Prologue test at Paul Ricard ahead of the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
Gary Watkins
Edited: Feb 21, 2018, 11:50 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The McLaren Formula 1 racer will not drive the Toyota TS050 Hybrid on track together with a full grid of cars before the Spa WEC opener in May because the Prologue at the start of April clashes with the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Toyota Motorsport boss Pascal Vasselon said that Alonso's participation in the Rolex 24 at Daytona last month with the United Autosports LMP2 team and the prowess he displayed in traffic meant the team had no concerns with him missing the Prologue.
"He will be less experienced in traffic than his teammates and Spa will be his first experience of this in our car," Vasselon told Motorsport.com.
"But he has already learnt about this at Daytona, so we have no concerns about this."
Vasselon said Alonso had shown an aptitude for the specific demands of endurance racing and was fitting in well with the Toyota LMP1 squad and his new teammates.
"He understands what endurance is about and what his duties are," he explained Vasselon.
Alonso revealed during his second endurance test with Toyota this week at the Algarve circuit in Portugal that he had found the team very welcoming.
"The atmosphere in the team is amazing," he said. "From the first day everyone was very friendly with me: we have a WhatsApp group in which we are constantly chatting."
Kazuki Nakajima and Kamui Kobayashi will also miss the Prologue because they will be on the duty with Toyota's Lexus brand in the Super GT season-opener at Okayama.
All six Toyota drivers, plus test and reserve Anthony Davidson, are taking part in the Algarve endurance simulation this week.
The team undertook a day's performance testing on Monday before embarking on a 30-hour run on Tuesday morning, which is scheduled to end on Wednesday afternoon.
Toyota has one further endurance test scheduled ahead of the Prologue on April 6-7.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Jarvis: "I haven't turned my back on WEC"
Next article Motorsport Network partners with FIA WEC & 24 Hours of Le Mans
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Gary Watkins
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
General
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
Ford steps up WEC preparations with second test car
WEC
WEC
Ford steps up WEC preparations with second test car
More from
Fernando Alonso
“Am I confident? Probably not” – The unprecedented challenge Singapore is throwing at F1 drivers
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
“Am I confident? Probably not” – The unprecedented challenge Singapore is throwing at F1 drivers
Fernando Alonso set for Dakar Rally comeback with Aston Martin
Dakar
Dakar
Fernando Alonso set for Dakar Rally comeback with Aston Martin
More from
Toyota Racing
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
19 h
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
WRC’s new champion Elfyn Evans celebrates title with Wales show run
WRC
WRC
WRC’s new champion Elfyn Evans celebrates title with Wales show run
Latest news
McLaren retains Leonardo Fornaroli in F1 as Italian adds WEC programme for 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 10 min
McLaren retains Leonardo Fornaroli in F1 as Italian adds WEC programme for 2027
GT2 European: Maserati ends on a high note at Portimao, with titles for Hartling/Thilenius and Gialdini/Njor
Sponsored
Sponsored
Portimão
1 h
GT2 European: Maserati ends on a high note at Portimao, with titles for Hartling/Thilenius and Gialdini/Njor
Inside the competition building F1’s future engineering talent
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
Inside the competition building F1’s future engineering talent
Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
9 h
Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe