For Charles Milesi, "Fuji helped raise the bar" before the Bahrain 8 Hours.

The final of WEC takes place this weekend at the Sakhir circuit, and will host a final contested between Cadillac, Porsche et Ferrari for the Constructors' Championship. Behind, Toyota will try to salvage some pride by securing their first podium finish of the year. A ranking for which Alpine He also hopes to be in contention, having secured his first victory in the category at the last round in Japan. For the brand with the arrowed A, could the Bahrain 8 Hours represent another opportunity?

These are certainly the ambitions expressed by Charles Milesi ahead of the event. The Frenchman, driving car number 35 and teammate of Paul-Loup Chatin and Ferdinand Habsburg, hopes to capitalize on the latest result to finish the season on a high note. "Let's just say we're definitely ending the year on a high note, at least for me..." Alpine and then theELMS, the Frenchman confided to the media, including AUTOhebdoIt's true that the beginning of the year wasn't necessarily easy for...Alpine. At least with our car, we weren't necessarily very lucky at certain times. With Le Mans also, which was not necessarily the race we hoped for. With the Austin race too, which went badly. Fuji certainly helped to raise the level a bit in this complicated year. "Clearly, in Bahrain last year, we had a good race pace."

Hyperpole objective for Alpine in Bahrain

However, no miracle for Alpine in the Middle East. To hope for a good result, it will be necessary to qualify well, which has not always been the case for car #35 this season in the WEC. « Unfortunately, we need to take the next step in qualifying. He continues. One minute it was 36, the next it's 35. That's where we need to score big points with both cars in the same race. I think that's what has allowed us to be P5 in the championship today. If we had been able to score together, we would definitely be in P4. I think we're leaning towards P3, but we can't remake the world. It's like that. If we manage to do that this weekend, I think that will already be nice. Clearly, that will be the goal. After that, it's certain we'd love to get back on the podium.

If the chances of podium finishes ofAlpine With chances looking slim for this final round of 2025, Charles Milesi hopes the race unfolds in his favor. A dramatic finale, like those seen in Austin and Fuji, could allow Alpine to come out on top. "You never know, we'll see what happens." But it's true that Bahrain isn't known for its high level of activity during the race. You're more likely to get a Full Course Yellow than a safety car, that's for sure. Yes, of course the main objective is to manage to keep more tires for the end of the race. The big question is whether we'll succeed or not. We have several different strategies on the board. We'll see which one we choose, which one will be the best. Surely we won't use the same strategy for both cars, in order to try and open up our options. After that, I don't know, I think it will also depend on the qualifications.

Besides the #35, the Frenchman emphasizes the importance for the A-marked team of both cars scoring significant points, which hasn't been the case enough this season. Even in the most recent round, when the #35 won, the #36 finished only 14th. "It's certain that if the two cars are in roughly the same position, we might have to try to adopt the same strategy, necessarily with offsets depending on the position. If we're too close, we'll make a double stop on the same lap. But it's certain that if the two cars aren't necessarily in the same place, it might be necessary to push a little harder to try and get the car that's a bit further back to catch up.

Interview conducted by Valentin Glo in Bahrain.

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