The double Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso won the Le Mans 24 Hours race for the second year in a row on Sunday with his Toyota teammates Kazuki Nakajima of Japan and Switzerland’s Sébastien Buemi.
The No 8 car crew, who took the lead with an hour to go, were also crowned world endurance champions, with Nakajima driving the final stint and becoming the first Japanese to win the title.
Toyota’s No 7 TS050 hybrid car, crewed by Britain’s Mike Conway, Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi and Argentina’s José Maria López, led most of the way but suffered two late punctures and dropped to second in a one-two finish for the Japanese manufacturer.
The Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne – Alonso’s former McLaren Formula One teammate – finished third in his debut Le Mans with his Russian teammates Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin in the No 11 SMP Racing BR Engineering car.