21/11/2017
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso has successfully completed his first test ahead of his debut at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.
The McLaren driver tested the Ligier at Motorland Aragon in Spain alongside his team mate for Daytona, Phil Hanson. Also present and testing for 2018 was Filipe Albuquerque, who was on hand to answer the Spaniard's questions, ahead of his first run in an LMP2 car.
Alonso arrived at Aragon directly from his LMP1 test in Bahrain on Monday evening and completed a seat fitting before his first laps in the Ligier JS P217 this morning.
Over the course of the test, he covered 483km (98 laps), focussing first on getting familiar with the car. He quickly got up to speed and began to work through various set-up changes and downforce configurations along with completing a planned programme of low-fuel, new tyre runs and full-tank race stints.
Alonso completed his first test under the watchful eye of United Autosports Team Owner and Chairman, Zak Brown. He will race the Ligier JS P217 at Daytona with Phil Hanson and McLaren test and reserve driver, Lando Norris.
Alonso is now making his way to Abu Dhabi for the final race of the F1 season, his next outing in the Ligier JS P217 will be at the official ROAR before the 24 test at Daytona on 5-7 January.
"I had a great first test," said Alonso. "Obviously, we are on a really tight schedule between now and Daytona, but it was nice to jump in the car for the first time. There's quite a few switches and things to study so it was important to do this initial shakedown before Daytona, so I could fully learn about the car.
"I'm happy with everything - the car felt great and the team were fantastic. The atmosphere here is wonderful, like a big family, so today has been amazing. I cannot wait for Daytona."
"Fernando's first test went awesome as expected," said Brown. "He is a World Champion and it is a pleasure to have him in our car."
"We've had a good first test with Fernando," added Richard Dean, Team Owner and Managing Director, United Autosports. "We shouldn't be surprised that it took him no time at all to get used to the car and the circuit having never driven here. He immediately got down to really competitive times and set to work understanding the car and doing long runs and race distance stuff - hugely impressive."