Alpine was disillusioned in the rain at Lone Star Le Mans

If the victory of the Porsche from Lyonnais Kévin Estre, as well as third and fourth places from Peugeot may suggest that the rain has smiled on the French, Alpine is the exception that proves the rule. Qualified seventh and twelfth, starting sixth and eleventh after the disqualification of the Peugeot n°93, which climbed back up to fourth place, the Hypercars with the arrowed A n°35 and 36 reached the finish line in eleventh and fifteenth position.

After showers in qualifying, the precipitation worsened until it prevented the race from starting on time. After 1 hour and 40 minutes spent under the safety car or red flag, Alpine almost lost one of its A424s after Frédéric Makowiecki went off the track in the No. 36 car. The rain caused both crews pain, and they now look ahead to the next round of the championship at Fuji (September 26-28), eager to improve after a weekend to forget.

“Not an easy day for us. A very difficult race where we lacked pace, overall. It’s sad that we had this slight incident quite early in the race which put us in a difficult situation. The mechanics did an exceptional job with a good repair, but we had taken a lap so the car was no longer in contention so it’s difficult to hope for anything. The 35 was unlucky. We lacked pace in these very wet conditions, where we encounter a lot of difficulties., summary Nicolas lapierreIn the drying conditions, we were a little better, but despite everything, we couldn't keep up with the pace of those in front. We tried some things with the strategy but it didn't pay off. We're paying the consequences of our lack of pace. It was a complicated race in difficult conditions. We'll try to analyze to understand what happened and try to come back stronger next time in these conditions."

While the No. 36 has twice reached the podium this season, at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps, the crew of Mick Schumacher, Frédéric Makowiecki and Jules Gounon once again crossed the finish line behind their sister car, for the second time this season after their tenth place at Le Mans.

“The conditions didn't allow us to start the race because there was too much water and especially too much standing water. Then, we noticed very early on that we were having difficulties with the level of precipitation and the aquaplaning that it caused. It was complicated to keep the car on track, as it is for many, but I think we were in more difficulty than the others. I'm sorry for my mistake, it's not the kind of thing you want, apologizes Frédéric Makowiecki. I lost control of the car without seeing it coming. The car was very difficult to drive and we could see afterwards that we were no longer very competitive as soon as the rain returned. We have to understand this because these are conditions that we can encounter later in the season or next year and if we want to be present, we have to be there in all types of conditions.

“A very complicated race today. We need to understand what happened, especially with the heavy rain. We had a lot of aquaplaning, probably more than the others, although I think they had it too. When you are so far behind in lap time, you need to understand what happened. The car was way off the pace and was very complicated to drive, sliding everywhere because of the water., adds Jules Gounon. We need to analyze and understand this. In any case, we're always here to learn; it was our first time with this car in the rain on a race weekend. This will allow us to analyze and improve so we can come back in better conditions the next time it rains."

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"We'll see what happens at Fuji and hope for better conditions."

As for number 35, the results are not positive either.Alpine A424 of Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsbourg and Paul-Loup Chatin certainly achieved its third best result of the season (after an eighth place at Spa and a ninth place finish at Le Mans) but the only thing that stands out from this event is the inability to fight against its rivals in the rain. The only light at the end of the tunnel: Fuji, in just over three weeks, where their crew had gleaned the first podium of the A424 in WEC.

“The results at the end of the race are still, in a way, quite disappointing. Given where we started and the pace we had in the dry, it could have been an interesting race in the dry. The rain was a feature throughout the race and we know that we already tended to struggle in these conditions, but this is really very, very complicated. We never managed to understand, in terms of pressures, what we needed to put in, etc. Each time, we were out of step with the other teams, at least those in front, resigns Charles Milesi. We need to understand what needs to be improved, because there are a lot of things that need to be improved. We'll see how it goes at Fuji, hoping for better conditions, a simpler race in terms of strategy and possibly in the dry. It's a circuit that worked well for us last year in terms of pace, so we'll see how it goes."

“Before the race we thought there was so much potential in the car. We were there in qualifying, we started sixth. We were hoping for changeable conditions. It really wasn’t good and I think we have a lot to blame ourselves for finding a way to better approach these tricky conditions, because the gap to the fastest cars was widening instead of closing., adds Ferdinand HabsburgIt's frustrating, but at least we've accumulated a lot of riding time in the rain, where we basically had no experience, so in that perspective it's good for the future."

“It’s disappointing. We showed good pace during free practice and qualifying. Unfortunately, with these very complicated track conditions, we had no pace. As soon as we tried to push, it was very easy to make a mistake and we saw that with the other car. With our car, we managed to stay on track, but it was more or less impassable for us. That’s how it is, it’s part of our progression curve, we have to analyze it., concludes Paul-Loup Chatin. We're slow in these conditions and compared to the other Hypercars the gap is big so we have to work. It's a bit of a shame because we were confident this weekend but didn't score any points. That's how it is, we finished eleventh, our car is in one piece, sometimes you have to accept it."

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