Alpine presents the A470 and its driving crews for 2017

The Signatech Alpine Matmut team's full driver line up and 2017 Alpine A470 was today presented in France.  The two cars entered by the French team will defend its 2016 LMP2 Championship title in the category which is sure to attract a good deal of attention thanks to the close competition and standard of driving talent.

The No.36 Alpine A470 Gibson will be driven by Nicolas Lapierre, Gustavo Menezes and Matt Rao for the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship season, with 2016 World Endurance Champion Romain Dumas replacing Lapierre for the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In the sister No.35 car will be Nelson Panciatici, Pierre Ragues and André Negrão, and this car will make its debut at the second round of the season in Belgium.

For the 2017 season, the LMP2 category has undergone a major transformation, with the application of new technical regulations and a new generation of cars with substantially improved performance.

The Alpine A470 chassis reuses the monocoque design and some mechanical components from the A460, and ORECA's work focused on integrating the new powertrain and on aerodynamics. Obtained following extensive work using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), the contours of the A470 reveal a level of refinement never previously attained on cars in the LMP2 category.

After development testing, Nicolas Lapierre was unable to contain his enthusiasm: "With a car like the Alpine A470, the LMP2 class is really entering a new era. The feeling behind the wheel was very good straight away. The attention that has been paid to every detail is impressive and it means that the handling is excellent. I can’t wait to get back out on the track."