Alonso to enter Le Mans, WEC with Toyota in 2018

Fernando Alonso will enter this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans and select rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota after being given permission by McLaren to dovetail his Formula 1 commitments with sports car racing duties.

Alonso began his bid to win the 'triple crown of motorsport' by entering last year's Indianapolis 500, and has long set his sights on racing at Le Mans, with the two events joining the Monaco Grand Prix in making up the unofficial title.

Alonso tested Toyota's LMP1 car in Bahrain last November and made his sports car racing debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona last weekend, acting as preparation for a possible Le Mans entry.

McLaren announced in a statement on Tuesday that Alonso will enter both Le Mans and all WEC rounds that do not clash with his F1 commitments.

"I've never been shy about my aim of winning motorsport's 'triple crown' - the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We tried for Indy last year, came close, but just missed out," Alonso said.

"This year I have the chance thanks to McLaren to race for the win at Le Mans. It is a big challenge - much can go wrong - but I am ready, prepared and looking forward to the fight.

"My deal to race in WEC was only made possible through the good understanding and strong relationship I have with McLaren, and I'm very happy that they listened and understood what this means to me.

"In no way will this challenge take away from my main target of Formula 1 with McLaren. In 2018, my aim is to be competitive at every grand prix, and I feel sure that we are closer to achieving that."

Alonso will be able to feature in all WEC rounds in 2018 with the exception of the 6 Hours of Fuji, which clashes with the United States Grand Prix on October 21.

"It’s no secret that Fernando has wanted to contest the Le Mans 24 Hours. And I think everybody within our organisation appreciates that a motivated, hungry and happy world-class driver such as Fernando is a formidable asset for any team in F1," McLaren executive director Zak Brown added.

“Last year, we came to the joint decision to go racing with Fernando at the Indy 500 rather than at the Monaco Grand Prix. But we’ve always said that we would consider each opportunity on a case-by-case basis, and we both know that, in 2018, our core priority is success in Formula 1. 

“Like Fernando, at McLaren we’re racers at heart, and our team is built on a brave heritage of competing and succeeding in different forms of the sport. Equally important is the confidence that nothing detracts from our number one goal of Formula 1.

"After proper evaluation, we are satisfied that this campaign does not do that, and that McLaren’s best interests prevail."

Toyota confirmed soon after McLaren's announcement that Alonso would replace Anthony Davidson in the #8 TS050 Hybrid for 2018, racing alongside Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.