Richelmi and Panciatici with Alpine

The presence of two Alpine A460b in WEC was one of the good surprises of the presentation of the WEC entry list on February 5 in Paris. As a reminder, if the two cars will be operated by Philippe Sinault's men, the No. 36 will be registered under the Signatech banner Alpine then n°35 will defend the colors of China and Baxi DC Racing Alpine.

This afternoon, the tenure of Nelson Panciatici and Stéphane Richelmi was made official. The 27-year-old Frenchman will support the Chinese David Cheng and Ho-Pin Tung on No. 35, the 25-year-old Monegasque joining Nicolas lapierre and the American Gustavo Menezes on the No. 36.

“We are delighted to continue the adventure with Nelson and to welcome Stéphane,” rejoices team principal Philippe Sinault. Now finalized, the constitution of our crews illustrates the coherence of the sporting project ofAlpine in 2016. The two A460s will be able to play leading roles thanks to the quality of our pilots. The six drivers spent time in the workshop to get to know the team better, define driving positions and participate in technical meetings with the engineers. The group is now formed to attack a 2016 season full of challenges. We are proud and happy about the collaboration with DC Racing. It is an honor to have been chosen to ensure the technical, sporting and logistical mastery of this program. »

Enough to fuel great ambitions. Note that Philippe Sinault wanted to thank Paul-Loup Chatin, member of the team from 2013 to 2015, as a reserve then as a starter. The young Frenchman was particularly involved in the title ELMS won in 2014 as well as the victory gleaned last year in China, at the 6 Hours of Shanghai. “I would also like to express our regret at not having been able to keep Paul-Loup,” he underlined. He brought a lot to the project and greatly contributed to the sporting results of the last two seasons. The decision was difficult to make but we have the ambition to be able to work with him again because he is part of the family Alpine."

The liveries of the two A460s will be revealed on Thursday March 24 at Paul-Ricard, the day before the first of the two days of the Prologue.