Special correspondent for the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Night had not yet fallen on the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit on Saturday evening when the hopes of a feat against the Toyotas had already almost disappeared in the Alpine clan.
After five hours of racing, the French manufacturer's No. 36 Hypercar was 33rd overall, six laps behind the Toyotas dominating the start of the race with a head and shoulders.
Philippe Sinault's men have even gone through an ordeal since the start at 4:00 p.m. in the Sarthe, accumulating almost all possible problems: lack of performance, mechanical glitches but also penalties.
The ten biggest accidents in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Go to slideshow (10)
A way of the cross which had started from the start of the event, failed, when the car driven by the experienced Nicolas Lapierre was caught in a vice by the Glickenhaus before falling back to 5th place.
A bad start which set the sad tone of the first hours of racing.
After having received a stop and go for having exceeded the authorized speed in the pits, the French car, in lack of performance (the fault of a balance of performance adjusted to its great disadvantage on Friday?), was unable to redo its behind the American Hypercars, camping on the podium (n°708) and at its foot (n°709).
Read alsoWhy the 24 Hours of Le Mans remains the most prestigious race in the world
Defective clutch
And the black series continued with a first alert on the clutch, forcing Mathieu Vaxivière to enter the box for a first intervention by the mechanics just before eight o'clock.
Result, four laps lost.
Less than an hour after returning to the track, around 9:00 p.m., it was André Negrao's turn to be pushed into the garage, front and rear bonnets raised.
Second working session on mechanics.
Read alsoFrom the X-Men to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Michael Fassbender perpetuates the Hollywood tradition of racing
Alpine condemned to take risks
Falling back to 35th place, six laps behind the No. 7 Toyota leading the race at a brisk pace ahead of its twin sister (No. 8) a few seconds and two high-performance Glickenhaus, but already more than a minute, the Alpine did not had more than one option to save its 2022 edition: total attack.
Already !
A risk-taking that pushed André Negrao, up to 29th place, to the fault, in the Porsche bends by spinning straight into the gravel trap.
The Brazilian was able to set off again under the last rays of sunshine lighting up the Le Mans route.
The night promises to be longer than ever for the French team which has not yet given up.