Special envoy to Spa-Francorchamps
The ascent to the peaks of Alpine at the highest level of Endurance racing continues this weekend with a first full-scale test in Belgium, at the Six Hours of Spa, the opening round of the 2021 season. French, already entered in Formula 1 and who until then shone in the second division of the World Endurance Championship (three victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 in 2016, 2018 and 2019), took the plunge in the premier category newly created: Le Mans Hypercar.
More than four decades after the brand's one and only victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (in 1978) Alpine is finally back on track.
A new exhibition and a new ambition for Alpine-Signatech, which will entrust its unique car hit number 36 to the very experienced Nicolas Lapierre (four victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans), to his compatriot Matthieu Vaxiviere and the Brazilian André Negrão.
The trio will have a hard time facing the two Toyota entered this weekend on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the doors of which are once again closed to the public, due to the health situation.
The great debuts of the Hypercar category
Subtlety of the regulations, Alpine will not line up a prototype with the same technical specifications as its two Japanese rivals (two Glickenhaus absent in Belgium for lack of preparation will be added to the fight for the second round of the season in Portugal. bringing the number of cars entered in the premier category to five). The tricolor clan will put on track a LMP1 version 2020 but rebadged (an old Rebellion R-13 designed by Oreca and equipped with a Gibson engine) while Toyota will test its two new prototypes in accordance with Hypercar specifications, cars less efficient than the generation previous. The Alpine has therefore been weighed down by more than 100 kg to rebalance performance.Added to this are restrictions in terms of power as part of the establishment of a Balance of Performance (BoP), also supposed to tighten the level between the two camps.
"We will aim for the podium in each race", continues to announce Philippe Sinault, the team principal of the team, ambitious.
"We are approaching this program with humility and the desire to do well while the world of Endurance is at a turning point in its history", explained the manager during the presentation of the A480 aware that his team will not have the necessary financial resources of the Japanese giant despite the support of the Renault group.
But the youth of the two Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercars and their uncertain reliability could work in favor of the “old generation” Alpine and, for its part, perfectly honed.
The LMP2s are faster than the Hypercars, a ranking that was messy
Toyota will line up its two Hypercars at Spa this weekend.
Except that the victory will not necessarily be played between the two top names on Saturday in Belgium. The first tests at Spa made cringe in the ranks of Toyota but also of Alpine. Heavier and less powerful (which should make them lose five seconds compared to 2020 on a lap at Le Mans), the cars in the Hypercar category have been placed in the classification sheets by the LMP2, supposed to evolve at the lower level. ! The leaders of the World Endurance Championship have weighed down these cars by 20 kg by reducing their power by 65 horsepower compared to 2020 but we must believe that these penalties are not enough to restore the logic of things. The reference time set by United Autosport USA on Thursday during the first free practice session, ahead of the Alpine,the first Toyota being only seventh, made a little mess ... How to explain to the public that the cars of the queen category are deposited by those of the lower echelon?
But the truth of free practice is not necessarily that of qualifying and the pace of the race.
The leaders of Toyota, like those of Alpine do not hide their concern but are still hopeful that they will be able to restore some order on Saturday to compete at the forefront, their first showdown of the season.
Six Hours of Spa program
9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.: Free practice 2
2 p.m. - 3
p.m
.: Free practice 3
6:40
p.m.
- 6:50 p.m .: Qualifications
Saturday May 1
1:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m .: Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
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