Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima seized a third consecutive win of the 2018/19 World Endurance Championship superseason, beating their team-mates in the #7 Toyota to victory at Silverstone.

A stunning pair of qualifying laps from Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez meant that the #7 TS050 HYBRID started ahead of the #8.

After exchanging positions twice in the opening two hours, Lopez had built a 17 second lead over the #8 car.

However, the #8 team gradually reduced the gap in the second half of the race. The #7 car then suffered a slow penultimate pitstop as the team changed the rear bodywork and after emerging with a small advantage over the #8, Buemi’s superior pace compared to Kamui Kobayashi meant that the #8 car was eased into the lead.

After winning the season-opening Spa Six Hours and the Le Mans 24 Hours, a third straight win at Silverstone has meant that the #8 car has taken maximum points from the opening three rounds.

Behind the Toyota one-two, the Rebellion Racing R-13s finished third and fourth, with the #3 car beating the #1 squad.

The #3 Rebellion team’s race was compromised at the first corner, as a tangle with the #17 SMP Racing BR1 driven by Stephane Sarrazin pitched both into spins and they dropped to the back of the field.

En route to an eventual fifth place finish, the #17 team suffered further contact later on in the race as Egor Orudzhev tangled with the #71 GTE-Pro Ferrari driven by Davide Rigon.

Orudzhev escaped without damage, but Rigon’s race was derailed by a puncture which tore away the right-rear bodywork and meant that the #71 ended up eighth in class.

The #11 SMP Racing car was the race’s first retirement, as Mikael Aleshin stopped on track with smoke pouring out of the AER-powered machine within the first hour. Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 world champion, was not able to turn a lap in the car during the race.

With the #10 Dragonspeed entry and #4 ByKolles team suffering issues in LMP1, the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing team ended up sixth overall while claiming victory in LMP2.

Ho-Pin Tung faced a challenging final few laps, as the #37 Jackie Chan car had closed to within two seconds, in the hands of Jazeman Jaafar for the final stint. The #37 team had suffered a puncture early in the race from which it had to recover.

The #51 AF Corse Ferrari won in the GTE Pro class. James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi battled with the Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT’s.

The #67 Ford had to fight from the back of the field after being caught in the lap one melee, later fighting with the #51 car for the class lead before slipping backwards.

Team-mates in the #66 car had their race hindered by a door issue at mid-distance. The team had to change the door in the pitlane and lost two minutes in the process.

The #67 car ended up third, 20 seconds adrift of the #91 Porsche squad who finished second in class.

Harry Tincknell managed to pass Michael Christensen in the final 15 minutes of the six-hour race in order to snatch third from the #92 Porsche team.

Dempsey-Proton Racing seized the GTE-Am class win with the #77 Porsche leading the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin by 46s at the chequered flag.

The Team Project 1 Porsche was in contention to claim GTE-Am honours before a 75-second stop-go penalty for a full course yellow infringement in the final hour resigned the team to a late-race battle for third place.

Jorg Bergmeister managed to elevate his Team Project 1 machine ahead of Pedro Lamy’s Aston Martin at Copse corner on the final lap of the race to seal the final spot on the podium. Lamy ended up fourth in the #98.