Crash.net's Motorsport Moments of 2018 - Part 1

With the holiday season now in full swing and racing on hold for a few weeks at least, it is the perfect time to take a look back on the year that has been and pick out some of the highlights of the year.

Over the next three days, Crash.net's editorial team will be reflecting on some of their favourite personal moments from the season that has been. From extraordinary moments on-track to poignant moments off it, it acts as a nice look back on our year.

In part one, F1 Digital Editor Luke Smith picks out his favourite 2018 moments.

WEC 6 Hours of Spa – Alonso-mania hits sports cars

Covering the FIA World Endurance Championship has always been a joy, often acting as a nice escape from the high-pressure, intensive nature of the Formula 1 paddock.

But WEC got its own taste of F1 this year as Fernando Alonso embarked on his LMP1 adventure with Toyota, laying the foundations for his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June (which one of my colleagues will come to in their highlights).

There was a noticeable shift in the WEC paddock upon Alonso’s debut at Spa, particularly when it came to fan focus. The open nature of the paddock has always been one of the series’ perks, yet with Alonso, it meant he was often surrounded no matter where he went, while the Toyota motorhome had dozens of fans outside all day with various pieces of merchandise waiting to be signed. Alonso even joked how when he went to use the toilets, a number of fans also just so happened to need to go at the same time..!

But what was really noticeable was the change in Alonso himself. Away from the struggles of F1, he was finally in a series where he could be competitive – taking pole and victory on debut for Toyota alongside Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima – and appeared to be really enjoying himself. He was more at ease talking to media, seeing a different set of faces (well, myself excluded!) and answering a different set of questions instead of the same-old, same-old he encountered in F1.

While it may only have been a sports car race on a sunny Saturday at Spa to most, it marked the true arrival of Alonso to the WEC paddock – a big moment for all involved this year