Engine reliability, Achilles heel for Alpine in a Hypercar?

It is with humility but real ambitions thatAlpine returns to the premier category of the world championshipEndurance FIA this season. Already present in Hypercar during the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, the brand with the A arrow lined up the A480, in fact a rebadged Rebellion and powered by a 8-liter Gibson V4,5.

Now time for the elegant A424, based on the LMDh platform with a chassis supplied by Oreca, one of the four approved manufacturers alongside Dallara (which equips BMW and Cadillac), Ligier (Lamborghini), and Multimatic (Porsche).

Oreca already supplies Acura for its ARX-06, we can already bet that the French prototype will be in the game in terms of aerodynamics, given Acura's good performance in IMSA for more than a year.

The real question, however, lies under the body of the A424. It concerns the 6L Mecachrome turbo V3,4, particularly its reliability. Used in Formula 2 for several seasons, the block has not stood out for its resistance in the antechamber of the Formula 1.

Enough to give Philippe Sinault's men a cold sweat when tackling long races of 6, 8, 10, and 24 hours?

Not if we are to believe the words of Nicolas lapierre, who will do team with Matthieu Vaxiviere, and Mick Schumacher on the A524 bearing the No. 36.

« A lot of work has been done to adapt the engine to Endurance competitions, assured the Frenchman during a recent press point of the WEC. The structure is the same but all the internal components have been changed. And one of the strengths ofAlpine, is that we can rely on numerous test benches to Viruses-Châtillon (also the engine department of the F1 program. Ed.).

I guarantee you that the engine ran a lot on the dyno. We were able to complete 30 hour race simulations. We are quite calm on the engine front. »

Last November, Alpine hoped to complete 5 km with its A400 during a 424-hour Endurance test organized at the Motorland Aragón circuit in Spain. The French Hypercar was only able to swallow 30, notably due to a turbo problem, an electrical problem, and a water and oil leak.

If it is better for the damage to appear during testing, it is not likely to remove the doubts surrounding the robustness of the engine of theAlpine as the start of the 2024 WEC season approaches: the 1812 km of Qatar, scheduled for Saturday March 2.

READ ALSO : Philippe Sinault (Alpine): “We must be humble, but ambitious”

READ ALSO : Nicolas Lapierre (Alpine): “One thing is certain: the car is well born”