More than forty years after its success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1978), Alpine has decided to enter the premier class, with an LMP1 NH against the Le Mans Hypercars of Toyota, Glickenhaus or even ByKolles.
For a plateau that promises.
The French brand, which its parent company Renault intends to revive in competition by entering it in particular in Formula 1, will also embark on an endurance program in the LMP1 category, its leaders announced on Monday.
Participation in the entire WEC endurance world championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a car in this category, was decided as early as 2021, they said.
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The car will be developed on the basis of an Oreca chassis with a Gibson engine, the formula currently used by the cars of the Swiss team Rebellion.
This team must leave the WEC championship at the end of this season, i.e. after the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2020 which will take place next weekend.
Alpine has already been entered since 2013 in the LMP2 category with the Signatech-Alpine team, which has won the Le Mans event three times in this category and the World Championship twice.
The LMP1 class sees more powerful cars racing that can fight for victory in the general classification.
According to the leaders of Alpine, a “sharing of information” could take place with the F1 Renault team, which will be renamed Alpine next year.
The names of the selected pilots will be announced by the end of the year, the same source added.
For the moment, the program only covers 2021 within the framework of existing regulations but may be extended according to their evolution.
In particular, a “Hypercars” category should make its appearance in 2021 and another called LMPh (for hybrid) which will allow the same cars to race at Le Mans and in the American IMSA championship.
Alpine already has a long history of participations at Le Mans with notably a victory in the general classification in 1978 with the Alpine A442B, driven by Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Didier Pironi.
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