OMNISPORT

Fernando Alonso enjoyed a successful World Endurance Championship debut as he, Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi won the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday.

The two-time Formula One world champion is competing in the WEC for the first time this year, racing between his usual commitments, and made a winning start alongside Nakajima and Buemi in Toyota's #8 car.

The trio took pole position from the sister Toyota #7 car - driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez - due to an administrative error and that proved crucial as they held on to edge to victory.

In his first WEC stint, Alonso built on Buemi's lead and was over a minute clear before handing over to Nakajima, whose performance was initially less convincing.

The #8 car lost time when Nakajima was swiftly forced to pit as his seatbelt was undone and then span at La Source, but the Japanese recovered to hand control back to Alonso in a commanding position.

Although Matevos Isaakyan hit the barrier to bring out the safety car and reduce Alonso's lead over Conway to six seconds, the F1 star had enough to hold on for his first win in any discipline for five years.

Alonso is sixth overall in F1 so far this season, finishing fifth in the opening Australian Grand Prix and then seventh in each of the subsequent races.