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Post by afx on Aug 9, 2019 9:14:47 GMT -8
 Fernando Alonso has dropped the strongest hint yet he is preparing to tackle the Dakar Rally next January.
The two-time Formula 1 champion, who has not raced since winning the Le Mans 24 Hours and the FIA World Endurance Championship title with Toyota in June, addressed his future plans answering questions submitted by followers of his Instagram account on Thursday evening. Alonso’s only appearances outside the WEC this year have been in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and a failed bid to make the Indianapolis 500 grid, and he has openly spoken of the possibility of contesting the Dakar as part of his mission to "be the best driver in the world". The 38-year-old even tested a Toyota Hilux back for two days back in March under the tutelage of former Dakar winner and team regular Giniel de Villiers. While Alonso didn’t specify he would be contesting the Dakar or cross-country rallying generally during his Q&A, he said his next challenge would be "quite difficult”. He added: "But it will force me to get the best out of myself and dedicate myself completely to it for several months. If it were easy, it wouldn't be fun.” Motorsport.com understands an announcement will be made concerning Alonso and Toyota’s plans in the coming days. October’s Rally Morocco is considered the traditional ‘warm-up’ event for the Dakar, which will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2020, although the Spaniard's preparations are likely to involve numerous other tests and minor competitions.  De Villiers: Top 10 a realistic aim for Alonso
Speaking to Motorsport.com earlier this year, de Villiers stressed Alonso would need to start building up his experience in rally-raid in the second half of 2019 to be ready for January. “[Alonso] is a two-time F1 world champion and obviously knows how to drive,” said de Villiers. “He learns very fast, there are some things he still has to learn, because it was only two days of testing, so it is impossible for him to learn everything you need to. “He needs a little more time in the dunes, but in terms of track performance, he improved very fast, doing it the right way: starting slowly and progressively increasing speed and at the end he ended up going very fast. “If he wants to do the race in 2020, he has to do the maximum number of kilometres possible in the car to get used to the environment, the terrain and everything. “The longer he can be in the car, the better he will do. Doing kilometres in both tests and competition will help him a lot.” Asked where he felt Alonso could realistically aim to finish, the South African said: “I think it’s too much to ask him to come for the first time and fight for the victory. “We’ve seen other drivers like Sebastien Loeb, who were used to gravel and still did not win the rally in any of his first four attempts, or Carlos [Sainz], who also needed three or four years before understanding how the race works. “This race is very complicated and expecting to win it the first time is not realistic. A top 10 is possible, but not a victory, of course”. The chances of Alonso making a return to F1 in 2020 are understood to have receded in recent weeks, despite speculation having linked to him a potential Ferrari return earlier this year. McLaren, which on Friday announced it is making a full-time return to the NTT IndyCar Series next season, has also indicated that Alonso is not interested in embarking on a full campaign in the US-based championship, even if winning the Indy 500 remains high on his agenda. A Dakar bid would likely rule Alonso out of defending his Rolex 24 title as it would prevent him from taking part in the mandatory 'Roar Before the 24' test in early January. |
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Post by Joel_W on Aug 12, 2019 8:52:35 GMT -8
JC,
Sounds more like Alonso is planning on next year of being a series of one race here, and one race there. I really don't understand the logic to it, as he'll either become the 1st best of anything, or slowly be forgotten as a serious and focused driver. Only time will tell. Honestly, I'd still love to see him in one of the two seats with McLaren in Indy Car.
As for McLaren's entry into Indy Cars, I'm still really confused as to what that really will be. It's not a new team, nor a 3rd car other then for Indy. And certainly not any technical expertise as this year's Indy debacle proved.
Joel
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Post by afx on Aug 20, 2019 4:10:08 GMT -8
Alonso begins Dakar 2020 preparations with Toyota
Fernando Alonso and Toyota Gazoo Racing have unveiled the first stages of the preparation programme for the two-time Formula 1 world champion's planned Dakar Rally debut in 2020.
Alonso sampled Toyota's Hilux car in the Kalahari Desert back in March, and will now embark on a much more extensive rally raid training programme with the Gazoo South Africa operation that represents Toyota at the Dakar.
This will be with the aim of having Alonso debut in the legendary rally-raid in 2020, although it's understood the Spaniard retains the option of backing out in case he does not end up feeling sufficiently comfortable or prepared in time for
January's event.
"In March this year, we completed a successful two-day evaluation with Fernando in our Dakar-winning Toyota Hilux in Southern Africa, which proved to be a valuable learning experience," Gazoo SA team boss Glyn Hall said.
"Not only did Fernando thoroughly enjoy the experience, but we could see him adapt and improve every time he got behind the wheel. It was clear that Fernando came to the test prepared and was ready to absorb everything we showed him.
"Rally raid is new for Fernando and I’m certain he has the skill and spirit to take on this challenge. As reigning Dakar champions with a long history in rally raid, I’m confident we can work well together with Fernando to build up his confidence for rally raid competition over the next few months."
A four-day test on the coast of Namibia starting on Tuesday will kick off a preparation programme that will take place "in Europe, Africa and the Middle East".
This will include a competitive rally-raid debut for Alonso in the Harrismith 400, the fifth round of the 2019 South African Cross Country Series, scheduled for September 13-14.
Motorsport.com understands that Toyota is planning to have Alonso to contest another two or three races in the lead-up to the Dakar. He is expected to enter the traditional Dakar rehearsal Rally Morocco on October 3-9, as well well as the final round of the SACCS in November.
Alonso's foray into rally-raid is the latest step of his campaign to explore various categories of motorsport, which has already yielded two victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours, a World Endurance Championship title and a Rolex 24 triumph.
"I’m really excited to continue my adventure with Toyota Gazoo Racing," Alonso said. "Together we have achieved so much since I first drove a Toyota in November 2017, with our two consecutive wins at Le Mans, the World Endurance Championship for the team and a drivers’ title with my teammates Sebastien [Buemi] and Kazuki [Nakajima].
"I got a taste of off-road rallying earlier this year and it left me with a good feeling that I want to prolong.
"I knew it would be a totally different experience with a steep learning curve but the Hilux just felt great; it gave me so much confidence so quickly and I was improving loop after loop. I’m really looking forward to the next few months of training, getting to know the Hilux and working with the team.
"I’ve always maintained I want to pursue new challenges in different disciplines and I’m at a great team to do that.”
The question of Alonso's co-driver remains open meanwhile, as likely candidate Alex Haro has aligned with another Toyota regular in Giniel de Villiers - who will join Alonso for the upcoming Namibia test days.
Frenchman Jean-Paul Cottret, who has won the Dakar seven times alongside driver Stephane Peterhansel, is seemingly the highest-profile specialist co-driver available. However, Marc Coma - a five-time Dakar winner in the bike class and the director of the rally between 2015 and 2019 - is instead the likeliest candidate to partner Alonso, although this would require approval from KTM, where he now serves as general manager.
The 2020 Dakar will be held in Saudi Arabia from January 5 to January 17. It will be the first Dakar based outside of South America since 2007, and Toyota will arrive as reigning champion, having clinched its first victory in the marathon with Nasser Al-Attiyah last year.
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Post by Joel_W on Aug 20, 2019 4:58:52 GMT -8
Just can't get excited about his dabbling with Toyota for the Dakar 2020 Rally. All he's essentially doing is diluting what could have been an elite F1 and/or Indy car career to just two F1 Championships and then just becoming a super talented and expensive Journeyman. One could easily see him not dominate the Rally, and it becomes just another entry in his growing list of "Run This & Try That for the Hell of it". Currently the 2019 Indy is atop that list.
Joel
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Post by afx on Sept 4, 2019 4:15:50 GMT -8
Alonso continues Dakar 2020 preparations in Poland
 Fernando Alonso completed another two-day test with the Toyota Hilux on roads used in last weekend's Baja Poland, as his preparations for the 2020 Dakar Rally continue. After driving the Hilux for four days in Namibia in mid-August, two-time Formula 1 champion Alonso continued his acclimatisation to cross-country rallying, completing over 700km on Monday and Tuesday with the help of Toyota's logistic partner Overdrive. The Spaniard was able to test himself on faster roads, some of which were used during last weekend's sixth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas, instead of the complex dunes that he experienced in Namibia. “It was definitely a positive couple of days here in Poland where I could experiment with a different sort of terrain," said Alonso. "At this stage of my training, I welcome every kilometre in the Hilux and I’m happy we were able to push ourselves beyond the team’s original plans. "It’s really great to be part of the Toyota Gazoo Racing family and be given opportunities to try my hands at different types of motorsport. The Hilux has been really fun to drive and I’m enjoying every test.”  Toyota team principal Glyn Hall added: “This is the first test for Fernando in Europe with the Hilux driving on very different terrains and conditions compared to Namibia two weeks ago. "As we progress through our intensive training programme, we are focussed on getting quality kilometres as Fernando continues to familiarise himself with the Hilux and rally raid, more so than pure mileage. Nevertheless, we were able to double the planned mileage for this test which demonstrates just how quickly Fernando is acclimatising to the Hilux. "Next week, we leave the relative comfort of a private test setting to give Fernando a first taste of a rally raid competition environment at the Lichtenburg 400." Alonso will move to South Africa in the next few days, where he will race non-competitively in the penultimate event of the South African Cross Country championship. Initially scheduled in Harrismith, it will take place in Lichtenburg on September 13-14, due to the high risk of fire from the initial location due to a drought in the country. 
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Post by Joel_W on Sept 4, 2019 5:23:27 GMT -8
JC,
I just can't see a F1 world championing walking away from the pinnacle of racing to run Off Road Rallies. Maybe the issue for me is that here in the USA, Rally racing isn't very popular. It's not on TV except once or twice over the winter as far as I've ever seen. And as far as I know of there's just one Rally somewhere in the upper regions in the Mid West.
Joel
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Post by arcticwolf on Sept 4, 2019 7:38:04 GMT -8
JC, I just can't see a F1 world championing walking away from the pinnacle of racing to run Off Road Rallies. Maybe the issue for me is that here in the USA, Rally racing isn't very popular. It's not on TV except once or twice over the winter as far as I've ever seen. And as far as I know of there's just one Rally somewhere in the upper regions in the Mid West. Joel There's a national rallye championship here in Canada ( "national" but its all held in Quebec and BC ? ). It's nowhere near as big a deal as it is in Europe, but its been ongoing for about 60 years or so.
There's also a non sanctioned race in Newfoundland - one end to the other. It's a "run what you brung" type event but there's some mind blowing fast cars that show up. Very "early-days" type of thing.
I've never even heard of a US rallye.
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Post by afx on Sept 5, 2019 2:26:26 GMT -8
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Post by Joel_W on Sept 5, 2019 5:01:50 GMT -8
JC,
I visited the American Rally site, and indeed their association is part of USAC. The Rallies certainly seem like full blown fast as you can drive the course timed staged events. I'm completely baffled how they can get all the various licenses from the local communities to close down their roads for the event, and find an insurance company or companies willing to cover the drivers, cars, private and public lands, etc.
From the pictures and videos posted on their site, these competitors are flying down public roads with no safety efforts made for any fans or people that might live close to the event trail. This is certainly the complete opposite of all the safety efforts and concerns that have been made and continue to be made at all the race tracks within North America, where a good deal of the upgrades are driven by their various insurance companies.
Joel
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Post by afx on Dec 16, 2019 10:54:57 GMT -8
 Fernando Alonso has completed the final test for his assault on the 2020 Dakar Rally, covering 600km in the Abu Dhabi dunes.
Two-time Formula 1 champion Alonso completed two-and-a-half days of running with his Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa team alongside co-driver Marc Coma, which will be his last running before the start of the Saudi Arabian event on January 5. The main objective of the test, which concluded on Tuesday, was for the Spaniard to continue gaining experience in reading the terrain in the dunes, focussing particular on following roadbooks with no tracks to follow. In a short video posted to Alonso's Instagram profile, Coma said: "Kilometres of sand, opening tracks and good training for reading the terrain." Alonso himself added: "Now we are ready for the Dakar, this was the last day [of testing] and we are very happy." On Monday, Alonso's Hilux suffered a broken wishbone after a heavy landing over a dune, and he and Coma set about changing the component themselves - assisted by Jaume Aragall, the co-driver of Spanish TV presenter Jesus Calleja, who is also contesting the Dakar. "It's all part of the learning process and they are both are really upbeat and eager", a Toyota Gazoo Racing spokesperson told Motorsport.com about the incident. Alonso will head to the Dakar with 10 days of competitive running under his belt, having most recently finished third on the Al-Ula Neom Rally last month. Prior to that he contested the Morocco Rally, the traditional warm-up event for the Dakar, and the Lichtenburg 400 in South Africa, suffering incidents in both. |
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