This time last year Alonso was champing at the bit. He had tried the Toyota TS050 Hybrid for size and was eager to be out on track for his first endurance race, and the opening round of the 2018-19 World Endurance Championship, the Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. “I’m pleased to be doing the full Super Season, because I’ll be able to go for the title, not just the Le Mans win”, he declared before the race. The Spaniard went on to pull off a début win at Spa before triumphing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with teammates Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. Shortly after the podium ceremony, he declared: “Its a shame Le Mans 24 Hours is only once a year. They should do it every two or three weeks.”

Now, a year later, Toyota Gazoo Racing is back at Spa-Francorchamps for the penultimate round of the Super Season. The driver crew of the #8 Toyota top the driver championship with a 15 point lead over the #7 sister car’s drivers, Lopez, Kobayashi and Conway. Alonso and his teammates are aiming for another win in Belgium this weekend. Tune in for the start at 13:30 local time and get in practice for the season climax, the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15 June. Alonso’s other goal was clear from the start: Having been Formula One world champion [2005 and 2006], winning the World Endurance Championship would be amazing. That’s what I’m aiming for. It would be a dream come true.

In the space of a few months, Alonso has won four major endurance races: the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1000 Miles of Sebring. Always out to win, whatever he does, the Spaniard nonetheless has a soft spot for the discipline as he stated in an interview for French sports newspaper, L’Equipe: “Even though I won’t be staying in the short term, I’ll come back to endurance in the future because I love it so much.”