What US racing gives Alonso that F1 can't

It was in 1972, the second year of my life as a racing journalist, that I first went to Daytona, there to see AJ Foyt win the fabled 500, and ever since I've savoured my visits there, even though I tired of the 500 once it had become a 'restrictor plate' race.

Richard Petty, one of my heroes, told me some years ago that he felt the same way. "On restarts it's painful, isn't it?" he said. "I mean, the cars don't accelerate - they just kind of pick up momentum."

If my interest in the 500 therefore declined over time, the Daytona 24 Hours is a different matter. I saw it for the first time in 2009, and it became an instant favourite, not least because, as Chip Ganassi says, "It's like a harbinger of spring". After a long off-season, racing people are glad to see each other again, and, as well as that, of course, a dose of Florida sun in January never goes amiss, although sadly this year it was in short supply.

This was my first visit to 'the 24' since 2013, and in five years much has changed in American sportscar racing. Gone are the dumpy Grand-Am cars that dominated Daytona for so long, and now the contenders for overall victory are state-of-the-art sportscars, most from the Daytona Prototypes category, like Cadillac and Acura, the rest from LMP2, like ORECA and Ligier.

Attempts have been made, I'm told, to achieve a performance balance between the two, but clearly more work is needed to help the LMP2 brigade, as Fernando Alonso realised in qualifying: on pure pace the Cadillacs looked unassailable.

As at Indianapolis last year, Alonso's presence in the race of course gave the Daytona weekend a lift. If there is always a strong field of drivers on hand for this race, the presence of a Formula 1 star is rare indeed, and of course there was intense interest in how Alonso would cope with his first touch of a sportscar.

"To start with, placing the car was just a guess, honestly" Fernando Alonso

First off, there is something about America that suits him, and even though his United Autosports Ligier was not truly on the pace, he was in fine spirits throughout the weekend. "I used to come to the USA for holidays, because no one knew me, but that's changed a bit since I did Indy. It's true that I like racing here, because they have a different approach - there's the same passion for motorsport that we have in Europe, but here everyone is much more open. They actually share information with you!

"In the same way, we all eat in the same tent, for example - everything is for everybody, and I think we lost that ambiance in Europe, where there's much more stress with everything, even in FP1! You have a new rear wing... maybe this is the last race for this engine... because of the penalties, where do you start on the grid this week...? Everything seems to be a tense moment.

"At press conferences here there are positive questions, whereas in Formula 1 there are only 'polemic' questions: even if you're not in trouble yourself, you get asked about Hamilton and Rosberg, or whatever, and you say, 'I don't know, I'm not in that team'. It's just a different atmosphere here."

Racing at Daytona was very much an exploratory exercise for Alonso, allowing him to experience endurance sportscar racing before making a decision about venturing to Le Mans.

"Certainly I'm enthusiastic about sportscars, yes - I love the aesthetics, for one thing. It took a bit of getting used to the very small cockpit area - it's like being in a single-seater with a canopy over you. And something else that I needed to acclimatise to was that, depending on which side of the car you're sitting (left in the Toyota, right in the Ligier), the corner of the car stops you from getting a clear view of the kerb - sometimes you look through the windscreen, sometimes through the side window! To start with, placing the car was just a guess, honestly."

"I think I'll come back to Daytona. It's an iconic race, and it's in January. Instead of being in the gym, you're driving, and that's much better!" Fernando Alonso

Compared with what he was used to, did the Ligier feel slow? "Not really. The thing is, when you're in the car, the sound is quite nice - for sure a lot better than a Formula 1 engine! - and there's a lot of vibration, so you feel the speed, and it doesn't feel slow at all."

As expected, the Ligier indeed struggled to keep pace with the Cadillacs and Acuras, although when the car's problems began it was running fifth, still on the lead lap, and Alonso and his team-mates found it more competitive than practice had suggested.

"First, we had a puncture, which did quite a lot of damage to the car, and cost us four laps, but during the night it rained, and we were one of the three fastest cars, and made up two laps, partly thanks to the safety car. Lando [Norris] did a fantastic job.

"Then we had a brake problem. I was a little bit scared, I admit, because it happened at the first corner, which you approach at 300-310km/h, and when I hit the brakes, there was nothing there. Luckily I didn't hit anything, and got the car back to the pits, but we lost 40 minutes, and effectively that was the end of our race.

"Still, it was an experience I really enjoyed, particularly my stint when night was turning to day, and I think I'll come back to Daytona. It's an iconic race, and it's in January, when the racing calendar is quite empty. Instead of being in the gym, you're driving, and that's much better!"

And Le Mans? "I'd like to do it, but it's not just up to me. When I got here, I said it was 50:50; now I'd say it was 60-40..."