Newly announced 2021 Renault F1 driver Fernando Alonso driving a Ferrari 488 GT3 has won on his iRacing Special Event debut with a seventh split victory in this weekends Spa 24 Hours.
Alonso drove with the FA/RB Allinsports team with former F1 driver Rubens Barrichello, Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan and sim racers Olli Pahkala, Jarl Teien, Isaac Gillissen, Balaza Remenyik and Dan Kell.
The FA/RB entry qualified on pole and lead the race from the start. That is until Alonso was struck by a puncture that forced them to pit early, putting them out of sync and down to second place.
They retook the lead when Whatever Racing, who inherited first place because of Alonso’s misfortune, made their scheduled stop.
There was another twist in the tale when Whatever Racing was involved in a heavy crash on their out-lap. The crash proved to be terminal with Whatever Racing retiring with ten hours left on the clock.
FA/RB continued to push onwards and held an almost two-lap lead at that point. Come the end of the race, FA/RB Allinsports won by two laps having led 335 of the 602 lap race.
Alonso said afterwards, “Yes! First endurance race on iRacing and after 24 hours, we won. A huge thanks to the team and my teammates! Let’s go I am very happy, everyone on the team was very fast. I made a small contribution with two stints, but it was a real pleasure.”
