LE MANS, France -- Fernando Alonso has moved one step closing to completing motor racing's Triple Crown by helping to secure victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours with Toyota.
The second of the Spaniard's three race stints proved decisive, clawing back a large deficit to the other Toyota and bringing his No.8 car back into contention after an earlier penalty. That helped propel Alonso and teammates Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi into a lead they would not relinquish until the chequered flag on Sunday afternoon.
The win is hugely significant: for Alonso, it means he now just needs victory at the Indy 500 to become the second driver in history to win that race, the Monaco Grand Prix and Le Mans; for Toyota, it ended its cursed history at Le Mans by finally securing victory on its 19th attempt following a series of heartbreaking failures and near-misses over recent years.