Alpine has finished its track debut test for the Alpine A424 Hypercar at Circuit Paul Ricard, the first of four testing locations in the coming months.
The Alpine A424 Hypercar division completed their maiden circuit laps. The A424 was introduced at Le Mans as the French manufacturer announced participation in the 2024 FIA WEC.
The first phase was a shakedown on Monday at Le Castellet Airport, which is close to the pit straight of the track. Nicolas Lapierre, a French racer, was in the driver’s seat.
Lapierre and fellow Signatech WEC drivers Charles Milesi and Matthieu Vaxiviere were the other two drivers who shared driving responsibilities over the course of the four days.
On the initial day of testing, Alpine ran the Hypercar through a series of brief runs and started working on the primary components, including the cooling system, brakes, and Xtrac gearbox.
The 3.4-liter single-turbo V6 engine built at Viry-Chatillon with partner Mecachrome was another area of emphasis for the team in the test.
The team was able to collect data and keep track of the car’s performance with the Michelin tyre on Thursday as the car completed more prolonged runs. With roughly 30 laps and a distance of more than 700 kilometers covered, the final run came to a conclusion.
Bruno Famin, Vice President of Alpine Motorsports, said: “This first session is the culmination of months of work by the Alpine Racing teams and our partners.
“Our initial assessment is satisfactory, with a fairly high mileage that has enabled us to conduct our programme step by step.
“In these early stages of development, the priorities are to validate the fundamental systems and work on reliability whilst beginning to fine-tune the prototype.
“The drivers were fairly happy with the car, although there were some difficult points, which we are already working on in preparation for the next tests.
“But we have to be realistic: the work has only just begun. We still have a huge amount of work to do in an extremely short timespan before our first race.”
The following Tuesday’s emphasis on software and mapping continued throughout the afternoon of Wednesday, August 23. The focus of the A424’s final day of testing at Le Castellet on Thursday was on longer track runs.
The team started to gather useful data throughout the productive, incident-free expedition, which totaled little over 1000 kilometers.
Philippe Sinault, Alpine Elf Endurance Team Principal, added: “For the first time in our history, we have the opportunity to be involved in such a large-scale project right from the start.
“Seeing the A424 take to the track for the first time was a real thrill. This project also brings its share of challenges, as the Alpine Racing teams and our own are working together to get the most out of the Alpine A424.
“The first overall impression is rather positive, and the absence of blocking problems since the first laps has enabled us to get to know the car fairly quickly. Our knowledge of the car will grow as the development tests continue.
“The next six months will certainly be intense until our first race in Qatar, but everyone in the team is more than motivated to rise to the challenge.”
In September, Alpine will travel to Spain to visit Motorland Aragon for additional tests.
This month at Paul Ricard, another LMDh challenger has been tested by a different manufacturer besides Alpine. Lamborghini has been running its LMDh Hypercar but due to an incident, track time with its SC63 has been limited.
images taken from the circuit Following the event, surveillance footage showed the Lamborghini Hypercar stopped at Turn 11 with obvious signs of significant damage from hitting the barriers.
No official statement has been made regarding the condition of the car or the driver, who Racetrackmasters believes to have been Lamborghini works driver Mirko Bortolotti.
One of the four drivers for the Lamborghini Hypercar/GTP endeavor, which will compete with the SC63 in the 2024 FIA WEC season as well as the IMSA Endurance Cup races following Daytona, is Bortolotti. He is currently in first place in the DTM standings and drives for PREMA in the LMP2 division of the FIA WEC.
Lamborghini Squadra Corse declined to comment on the incident after the team was contacted by Racetrackmasters.
