General

No luck for Alonso: Spaniard eliminated early in 24 hours of Le Mans

13 June 2020 at 17:04
  • GPblog.com

Fernando Alonso and iconic races have not been a successful combination lately. After a very disappointing Indy500, the experienced Spaniard is now also eliminated early in the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Fernando Alonso was looking forward to finally having another endurance race, but the former Formula 1 driver says he can get on his bike tonight. Instead of 24 hours, the race only lasted just over two hours for the Spaniard.

The problem for the Alonso team started with a human error, as the driver reports via his own Twitter channel. The team received a penalty from the race director while driving in the pit lane. The game on which the virtual 24 hours of Le Mans is organized, rFactor2, doesn't however let players serve a penalty later. So Alonso and his colleagues had to take the penalty immediately.

Not enough fuel

According to Alonso this caused a glitch. At a pit stop where a penalty is served, there is no refueling for the next round. The car then didn't have enough fuel to reach the pit lane again, forcing the Alonso team to end the race.

That doesn't mean that there are no big names participating in the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans right away. In fact, many current Formula 1 drivers are taking part in the digital event. Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are in one team, but also Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi can be found on the track. The race can be followed live here.