Brown: Alonso very unlikely to win Daytona

United Autosports boss Zak Brown is pessimistic about Fernando Alonso's chances of winning the Daytona 24 Hours race, but feels a podium finish is a realistic target.

The Spaniard, racing with Lando Norris and Phil Hanson, is using the Daytona 24 Hours experience to see if he fancies a crack at Le Mans 24 later this year in his bid to win the Triple Crown.

Alonso qualified down in P13 on the grid, a result he downplayed given that it is an endurance race, but his boss Brown does not believe his team are in with a chance of winning.

"There is some strong competition; I think on ultimate pace we will be a little bit off," said Brown.

"A top-five or a podium [would be realistic], but I would be surprised if we are going away with any watches [awarded by race sponsor Rolex to the winners] come Sunday.

"Fernando is here to win. We are all here to win, but you have to be realistic.

"It would be misleading if I said we have the same chance as Cadillac and Acura, because we don't.

"Among the LMP2 cars we have got a disadvantage to the ORECA, and the Daytona Prototype international cars always excel around here."

The Daytona 24 Hours starts at 7.40pm (GMT).