Signatech Alpine will be moving to the pinnacle of endurance racing for the 2021 World Endurance Championship as they will enter the series rebranded as Rebellion R-13.
This move was reported on Thursday and the news follow closely the announcement of Renault Formula 1 rebranding its name to Alpine for 2021 season, however an official announcement is expected on Monday.
It is alleged that the signatech team will be operating one of the three R-13 chassis on loan from Oreca which currently owns the car and it is expected that it will be rebranded in the same way as Oreca 07 LMP2 car known as Alpine A-470.
Rebellion Racing had confirmed earlier this year that they would be dropping out of endurance racing after the end of 2019/2020 World Endurance Season but according to sources the team confirmed that it has no plans to sell or loaning out the two Oreca-Gibsons cars that remain under their ownership.
The current Signatech LMP2 drivers Andre Negrao and Nathanael Berthon who will be driving for Rebellion in the upcoming Le Mans 24 Hours, have been reported to be the contenders for the new drive. This comes as Thomas Laurent who was with Rebellion in 2018/2019 season and now currenltly with Signatech might also be considered for the ride.
Signatech will be moving to the LMP1 class which has only attracted Toyota, Bykolles and Glickenhaus although there was the introduction of LMH(Le Mans Hypercar) which may leave Signatech to be the only current-gen Lmp1 on the grid unless Ginetta is able to find a customer willing to continue operating its G60-LT-P1 beyond the end of this season.
It also raises the prospect of Alpine gearing up to commit to either the LMH formula or the LMDh ruleset that the WEC will share with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which was originally planned to come on stream in 2022 but could be delayed by a year.
In such a scenario, Alpine would face off against fellow French marque Peugeot when the latter joins the WEC field with a new hybrid-powered contender some time in 2022.
