London, England - McLaren's Fernando Alonso will race the next two editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours with favourite Toyota while also combining a world endurance campaign with Formula One in 2018.
McLaren and Toyota made the announcement, which had been widely expected and is likely to be one of the talking points of the motorsport year, in separate statements on Tuesday.
Alonso said: "I've never been shy about my aim of winning motorsport's Triple Crown - the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
"We tried for Indy last year, came close, but just missed out," added Alonso, who led at Indianapolis before a late engine failure. "This year, I have the chance, thanks to McLaren, to race for the win at Le Mans. It's a big challenge - much can go wrong - but I'm ready, prepared and looking forward to the fight."
Alonso, now 36, has a one year contract with options at McLaren, but raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona last weekend as preparation for Le Mans. Toyota was the obvious team to link up with as the sole manufacturer remaining in the top LMP1 category following the departure of champion Porsche.
Alonso will share this TS050 hybrid LMP1 car at Le Mans with Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, both former Formula One drivers. File photo: Toyota
McLaren executive director Zak Brown said he was satisfied Alonso's Le Mans commitments would not detract from his main job in Formula One. McLaren is starting a new partnership with Renault in 2018, hoping to get back on the podium after three difficult years with Honda, Toyota's domestic rivals.
Alonso will miss the Japanese leg of the world endurance racing series at Fuji on 21 October since that clashes with the US Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
"It’s no secret that Fernando has wanted to contest the Le Mans 24 Hours," Brown said. "And I think everybody within our organisation appreciates that a motivated, hungry and happy world-class driver such as Fernando is a formidable asset for any team in F1."
Toyota said Alonso would be sharing its No.8 TS050 hybrid car with Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi and Japanese Kazuki Nakajima, both former Formula One drivers. Alonso will make his WEC debut at Spa-Francorchamps, the Belgian Grand Prix circuit, for the Six Hours race in May.
The 2018-19 endurance 'super season' will include two editions of Le Mans for the first time as a move towards a championship that will start in the European summer and end with the French endurance classic.