Training day: Alonso sets fastest Le Mans-test time

Fernando Alonso spent his Sunday afternoon pottering around the French countryside with some friends in a Toyota. And by 'French countryside' we mean Le Mans. And by 'pottering', we mean setting the fastest time of the session on the WEC’s official ‘test day’.

Furthermore, it was Alonso’s first ever experience of the Le Mans circuit in real life, having only previously done it in a simulator. In his Toyota TS050 Hybrid, he managed to clock a time of 3m 19.066s.

“It was a good day for us, a great way to prepare for the big race in two weeks,” he said after the session. “The car was perfect from the outset.”

Turns out he rather likes Le Mans. “This circuit is wonderful, especially for this type of car. It’s even better than Spa which reminded me of F1. This car was definitely designed for the Le Mans circuit.”

Elsewhere, a little further down the time sheets was another LMP1 rookie by the name of Jenson Button. Alonso’s former McLaren F1 teammate will contest this year’s Le Mans too, and managed to clock the fifth fastest time of the test day.

“The speed at which these cars can go into turns is impressive,” Button said. “You really need to have faith in your car. The problem is there is a considerable amount of traffic and it’s difficult to overtake in certain corners.

“I would have liked to do even more laps,” he added. “I can’t wait to move forward because we still have some improving to do.”

The clock is ticking: Le Mans is just two weeks away…