Two-time Formula 1 champion was taking the positives away from his first appearance in a sportscar race, despite only finishing 38th in a trouble-filled Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The Spaniard had a strong start to his first endurance race, leading briefly during the early pit-stop phase and running fifth as night fell over Florida. However, a puncture which caused other damage and then brake problems during the hours under lights dropped him and his team of fellow McLaren driver Lando Norris and Phil Hanson down the order.
Eventually, their United Autosports Ligier would end 90 laps down on the winning Action Express Cadillac, who set a new distance record in the process, but that didn’t deter Alonso who recently rated a run at the Le Mans 24 Hours later this year as 50/50.
“I think have a positive feeling and a positive situation about the race. I think unfortunately we had too many issues that were out of our control, some unlucky situations,” the 36-year-old said in reflection.
“It was a very nice experience, the whole event, the test, qualy, the restarts, the stints, the fatigue, at night, the transition from night to day. It was one of my stints, it was very nice being on-track at that time. I really enjoyed the traffic management and the car itself.”
Also Read:
- Alonso hails McLaren boss Brown’s “wider vision of motorsport”
- Webber concerned Alonso could “risk getting hurt” combining F1 & Le Mans
- Alonso expects to be a “better driver” after Daytona run
Alonso felt a podium could have been within grasp without the problems, which at one stage saw his brakes fail at 190mph as he prepared to enter the infield section of the oval.
“It was a little bit of a surprise, a little bit unlucky. Even our sister car could have been on the podium, clearly,” he claimed.
“We could have been there, even one lap ahead of them in that moment, so I think we lost our opportunity here, but I have a positive outcome, even with all the issues. I really did enjoy it a lot.
“I love driving, and when you drive for eight or nine hours in one race, it’s much better than one. That’s a very good feeling, driving 24 hours.”
Asked about those moments at the end of the oval banking, he added: “It happened two times at the first corner, so you are at 300, 310 kph, and then you hit the brakes and there are no brakes. Luckily there is the shortcut there.
“At night you don’t see clearly the tyre wall and where there is this escape road, so that was even more scary. It is the way it is. tried to get the car back to the garage because you know the next race they have and the mechanics will sort the problem.”