Tom Kristensen expects Alpine to 'put a lot of pressure' on Toyota in bid for 24 Hours of Le Mans victory

Tom Kristensen believes Alpine will put a “lot of pressure” on Toyota at 24 Hours of Le Mans – but thinks last year’s winners are still the “favourites”. Alpine won the opening race of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship as Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere secured victory at the 1000 Miles of Sebring. Ad/> Toyota were the defending champions but crashed heavily.

Le Mans 24hrHow to watch 24 Hours of Le Mans with Eurosport and discovery+AN HOUR AGO At Le Mans, which starts at 3pm BST on Saturday June 11 and will be live on Eurosport and discovery+, Toyota will be looking for a fifth win in a row, but nine-time champion Kristensen is predicting a close battle. “For outright victory there is no doubt Alpine is putting a lot of pressure on the two Toyotas,” he said. “They beat them already in Sebring and are leading the championship going into Le Mans.

Alpine are outsiders and Toyota still have to be favourites but they are complex cars. They had some issues in Sebring and it was not luck that Alpine won, it was due to very good execution of their cars and in that sense it could happen again at Le Mans. Le Mans schedule How to watch 24 Hours of Le Mans with Eurosport and discovery+ Fassbender relishing 'surreal' Le Mans debut “But Toyota are favourites and they will also try to gain even more experience of Le Mans to be ready when everyone joins next year.” Kristensen holds the record for most wins at Le Mans, including six in a row from 2000 to 2005.