The greatest legend of Le Mans hallucinates with Alonso: “His night relays, incredible”

tom christensen (July 7, 1967, Hobro, Denmark) is considered the best pilot of all time in the Resistance. His numbers support him: in his hand he has the record victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a total of 9 victories in the legendary French race. Besides, six of those victories were in a row (from 2000 to 2005)to join his achievements 1997, 2008 and 2013. Tom’s therefore a more than authorized voice in talk to MD in the final Race of Champions held in Sweden of Fernando Alonso’s passage to the Resistance World Championship in 2018 and 2019two seasons in which he won two world crowns and two wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans before his Dakar debut and his spectacular return to F1.

“Fernando did very well. For me, his stints at night showed what everyone knows, what a good driver he is. One of the most important keys to winning Le Mans is to be the fastest at night. Alonso is an Unbelievable talent, he is one of the most talented drivers I have ever seen. The stints that Alonso did at night at Le Mans with Toyota were incredible. It was so fast since he got into the car. What Alonso did at Le Mans was unbelievable.”the Dane argued with MD.

In this sense, the former endurance driver also referred to the fact that Fernando Alonso and his crew have a car superior to the rest and they only have another Toyota on the track as their great rival, with the same weapon.

“We talk about equality, but you have to think that there is always a car behind”, he said, remembering that at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, any problem or mistake by Alonso and his teammates could take away their victory over his Japanese ‘brother’. It is noteworthy that to win, Fernando and the other pilots of Toyota #8 they had to fully train in an intense battle against other Japanese personnel.

“Many people may think that the Toyota is superior, perfect, but the Toyota is two cars and it is still very difficult to beat the other car. And this is something that Alonso and his teammates have done very well. It is true that with Toyota, Porsche, Peugeot there will be more competitiveness (with the new era of Hypercars already happening), I agree, but if you win Le Mans, you win Le Mans. If it has the same winning amount as you did? Le Mans is always Le Mans. 24 hours… every Le Mans victory counts”added the legendary driver, currently ambassador of the centenary of Le Mans, who a few months ago found it very difficult for Ferrari to achieve victory at the legendary French event in his first year back in the top category of the World Endurance Championship, after 50 years of absence from Le Mans in the premier class.

“This year is a brilliant year for the Endurance World Championship. In particular, for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s the centenary. 100 years since the first Le Mans. And it will be very interesting, for sure. I am an ambassador for the race and for I am proud. And for whoever can win the centenary trophy, it will be incredible. That Ferrari return is historical. It is an iconic brand. They are not the favorites, but their return is famous. I think they will go very well. But I don’t think They still have the experience that a whole team has to accumulate to win Le Mans and it will be difficult,” he said. Months later, Ferrari is in contention for a historic win after leading the race after a night of horror.

In addition, Kristensen is very optimistic about the good future that the Endurance World Championship leads with the new regulations, designed so that the American prototypes can compete in the same event as in the WEC, something that has favored the entry of many brand. “Many manufacturers have entered the World Resistance Championship. This is something very good. It is a great unification of world resistance, very good for the future of this sport. And we have seen many manufacturers. There is Toyota , Porsche , Peugeot … Alpine is coming (in 2024 with its new Hypercar) and more…”, he concluded.