Alpine carried out the first tests of the A424 Hypercar, which will compete in the top division of the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2024, over a week at Le Castellet.
The first series of tests of the Hypercar A424 took place in early August for initial checks, followed by the first successful tests, validating the car's various functions and launching the development work. Armed with a wealth of information on its new creation, the brand marked with the "arrowed A" is already continuing its development work ahead of the next event scheduled for September in Spain.
After months of behind-the-scenes research and design, Alpine's endurance project has made its circuit debut. After an initial start on the A424 and its first simulator sessions in July, the Hypercar underwent its first low-speed run in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre in early August. He took the wheel again the following Monday for a debugging test at Le Castellet Airport to verify the safety features were working properly.
The next day was marked by in-depth work on the 5,8 km track and a series of sprints to get the prototype in hand and begin working on the functioning of the car's main components, including the gearbox, brakes and cooling system, a very important subject in the midst of the very severe heatwave that hit France. At the same time, the 6-litre single-turbo V3,4 engine developed by Viry-Châtillon also received special attention, with an emphasis on mapping.
On the track, which was only opened at the end of Wednesday, the validity of the changes implemented since the day before was validated, particularly in terms of software and maps.
On the final day, the run was gradually extended to collect valuable data and begin to better understand the Michelin tires. Thursday's stint concluded with around thirty laps and a total distance of over 700 kilometers.
In total, the Alpine A424 covered over a thousand kilometers without any major problems, which taught the team a lot and accumulated a lot of data that is now used.
During this productive week, three drivers from the current Alpine-Signatech team also took turns at the wheel: Nicolas Lapierre (Monday and Tuesday), Matthieu Vaxiviere (Wednesday and Thursday), and Charles Milesi (Thursday). Alpine is expected to continue developing the A424 Hypercar, with further sessions scheduled for September at Motorland Aragon.
Bruno Famin, Director of Motorsport at Alpine, said: “ This first meeting represents the culmination of several months of work by the Alpine Racing team and our partners. Our initial assessment is satisfactory, and the considerable mileage has allowed us to gradually deploy our "First phase of development, the priority was to validate the basic systems and work on reliability while starting the development of the prototype. Even though we are already preparing for the next tests, the drivers are very satisfied with the car. But we have to be realistic: the work has only just begun. We still have a lot to do in the very short time that separates us from the first race. »
Philippe Sinault, Team Principal of Alpine Elf Endurance, said: “ For the first time in our history, we have the opportunity to be involved in a project of this magnitude, from its very first laps on track. Witnessing the first laps of the A424 was an unforgettable moment. A real experience for me, very emotional. This project also presents some challenges because the Alpine Confidential C3 Racing teams and our teams are merging into a single collective seeking to get the most out of the Alpine A424. The initial general feeling is quite positive and there have been no locking issues since the first laps, which allowed us to discover the car very quickly. Our knowledge will grow as we continue our development tests. The next six months will certainly be intense until our first race in Qatar, but all members of the team are very motivated to take on the challenge. »
About Alpine
Jean Rédélé founded Alpine in 1955. The brand has distinguished itself over the years with its French-style sports cars. In 2018, the brand presented the new A110, a sports car faithful to Alpine's timeless principles of compactness, lightness, agility, and driving pleasure. In 2021, the Alpine business unit was created. It becomes the brand dedicated to innovative, pure, and exclusive sports cars from the Renault Group, benefiting from the tradition and know-how of its historic Dieppe factory and the engineering expertise of the Alpine Racing and Alpine Cars teams.
André Tirlet
