Fernando Alonso says he wants to be a part of the new Le Mans Hypercar class that will headline international endurance racing from 2021.
Alonso was part of the FIA World Endurance Championship during the 2018/19 Super Season, racing for Toyota. The Spaniard won Le Mans twice in a row en route to the championship and has not raced in the championship since.
He admitted that he is interested in racing in the championship again when the Le Mans Hypercar class gets introduced, although he did not specify a timeline.
“The hypercar is a nice project together with different solutions that I know the endurance championship is going through, a good process now also with IMSA, a lot of things in the future that will boost endurance and I want to be part of that,” Alonso said during an Instagram Live interview with the official Le Mans 24 Hours channel. “I don’t know when. But my experience with Le Mans at the moment is 100 per cent love, two attempts and two wins, I want to try the third, let’s see when.”
The Le Mans Hypercar class is currently expected to debut in early 2021. The original debut date was scheduled for September 2020 before it was delayed as a result of a calendar shuffle caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Toyota is one of two manufacturers currently expected to be on the grid in March alongside Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus with their 007 hypercar.
The IMSA/ACO convergence is scheduled to take shape one year later, with the LMDh category scheduled to debut in January 2022, after which the two classes are widely expected to race alongside at major events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Alonso, who shared the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid with Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, looks back fondly on his only FIA WEC campaign to date.
“I think it was unique because the Super Season was unique – the first time two Le Mans was inside a championship and it was magical,” he continued. “It was a privilege to be in the WEC season, to drive for Toyota, a phenomenal car, phenomenal team with great team-mates and to discover endurance racing in that package was much better than what I was expecting.
“For Le Mans it was the same thing. I did the starter flag in 2014 and always wanted to race Le Mans but my experience with Toyota and with the two wins, it exceeded any expectations I had.”
“At night, all the fans, I think the 24 hours, even if it seems a long race, when you have the adrenaline, the passion, and the atmosphere it feels like a short race, you would like to compete even longer, you think how we have completed already 22 hours. It was a fantastic experience.”
