Since the beginning of its second season in endurance racing – a key element of the renaissance of the Alpine brand – no secret had been made oftheburningdesire to reach the podium in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
After an initial year of learning, the team led by Philippe Sinault has accomplished its objective.
At the wheel of an Alpine A450b that was competitive throughout the race, Nelson Panciatici, Paul-Loup Chatin and Oliver Webb made not so much as the slightest error to cross the finish line an outstanding seventh overall at La Sarthe, in so doing annexing a rostrum finish in the LMP2 class.
The team was forced to make just two unscheduled pit-stops. Although both were perfectly managed by the technical crew, the precious seconds lost prevented Alpine from dreaming of an even greater achievement during the race’s closing stages.
Bernard Ollivier, Alpine Director: “When you consider that making it to the end of the Le Mans 24 Hours is already a victory in itself, to finish on the podium in our class and seventh overall underscores the quality of this team. Aside from the historic triumph for the Renault Alpine A442B driven by Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Didier Pironi in the 1978 race, this is the best result for an Alpine in the Le Mans 24 Hours. I need to pay tribute to the performance of all three drivers, the technical squad and the strategy that was implemented. This is a team that was built to win!”