page_title: Motor racing career of Fernando Alonso
section_title: WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (2018–2019)
hierarchical_section_title: Motor racing career of Fernando Alonso / Endurance racing career / WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (2018–2019)
caption_attribution_description: English: Cadillac DPi-V.R at Petit Le Mans in 2017
context_page_description: Fernando Alonso is a Spanish racing driver who was won two Formula One World Championships, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, the 24 Hours of Daytona once and the Euro Open by Nissan. He progressed from kart racing to car racing with the Euro Open by Nissan with the Campos Motorsport team in 1999, winning the series from Manuel Gião at his first attempt with six race victories and nine pole positions. Alonso progressed to the higher tier International Formula 3000 Championship in 2000 with Team Astromega. He finished fourth in the point standings with a second-place finish at the Hungaroring and a race victory at the season-ending race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
  He moved to Formula One in 2001 with the Minardi team on a loan agreement with Benetton. Alonso was moved to the Renault test team by his manager Flavio Briatore in 2002 and worked alongside the engineering department to help improve the form of race drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button. He was promoted to a race seat at Renault for 2003, becoming the youngest driver to win a pole position and a Grand Prix that year.
context_section_description: In September 2017, Alonso told the McLaren chief executive offer Zak Brown he wanted to drive in the 2018 24 Hours of Daytona as preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Brown agreed to the idea and assigned Alonso to drive for United Autosports. Alonso entered the race because he sought a different challenge and spoke to García on what to expect. He drove a Ligier JS P217 in a test session at the Ciudad del Motor de Aragón on 21 November and driver Filipe Albuquerque advised him. Alonso, the sports car entrant Philip Hanson and McLaren's reserve driver Lando Norris qualified 13th and finished 38th after multiple mechanical issues affected the car during the race. Alonso returned to race in the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona with Wayne Taylor Racing. He shared a Cadillac DPi-V.R with Kamui Kobayashi, Renger van der Zande and Jordan Taylor; the quartet completed 593 laps to win the rain-shortened event.
caption: The Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R driven in the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona (pictured at the 2017 Petit Le Mans).
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D5100", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.1.1 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2017:10:08 14:43:40", "Image ExifOffset": "220", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "966", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "17611", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:10:07 09:52:54", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:10:07 09:52:54", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "477741/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2827819/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "21/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "36", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "50", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "50", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "54", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "3688357", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 200, 7/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6"}