Fernando Alonso Rolex 24 Testing at Daytona 2018

Fernando Alonso made his unofficial debut in the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship on Friday morning when he strapped into his United Autosports LMP2 for the first Roar Before the 24 track session. Having only tested the entry at the Aragon Circuit in Spain back in November, the Rolex 24 on January 27-28 will be his proper sports car debut. This weekend will be the first time he drives the No. 23 around Daytona International Speedway alongside teammates Lando Norris and Phil Hanso. On a cool but sunny afternoon, the two-time Formula 1 world champion posted an initial time of 1:40.992 around the 3.56-mile, high banked roval. It was the first of many challenges over the next month for the Spaniard. "Unfortunately, this was only a short time, three laps this morning, but enough to have feeling in the car and on the speedway as well," Alonso said. "Obviously, the high banking is special and you feel the compression there in the body and the visibility change... It was good fun. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of track time but we're going to get more in the second session. Rolex 24 Hours 2018.