Alpine Ready for Tenth WEC Season

The Alpine Elf Endurance Team, 2016 and 2019 champions and three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2, has announced that its 2021 driver line-up of Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrão and Matthieu Vaxiviere will once again challenge for Hypercar honours in the season ahead.

The team stayed in with a chance of taking the category title right until the final round in 2021, and believes that it has learnt valuable lessons in preparation for the 2022 season. The Signatech-run team will also continue to field its Alpine A480 chassis while development work continues on the future Alpine LMDh, designed around an Oreca chassis and an Alpine engine developed in Viry-Châtillon, which will race in the Hypercar category from 2024.

“Alpine’s endurance program emphasizes our commitment and ambitions in motorsport,” commented Alpine CEO, Laurent Rossi.

“By competing in Formula 1 and endurance, Alpine is one of the few brands racing in two FIA-sanctioned world championships and we will compete against prestigious rivals in FIA WEC again.

“Philippe Sinault’s teams have my confidence, with a proven track record in this sport and numerous successes that have already seen Alpine excel at Le Mans and on the international scene for almost ten years now.

“The challenge will be even greater this season, but I am convinced our team will once again live up to the expectations of Alpine enthusiasts.”

 Team principal Sinault added: “As we enter our tenth year with Alpine, it was important for us to rely on the same trio to drive the A480 in the Hypercar category.

“Andre, Matthieu and Nicolas are really embodying this project. They, like us, have done everything to continue our collaboration this year.

“They are fuelled with the spirit of our team and this is an ideal situation for a team as it gives us a lot of serenity and a fertile foundation for our next challenges. The trust is already established, which will also save us a lot of time.

“With the arrival of new competitors in the category, the technical elements will likely evolve and we have done a huge amount of work to have an even better season than last year.”