General rehearsal for theAlpine A424 before the baptism of fire in Qatar

The Prologue of the World Endurance Championship (February 24-25) will be the opportunity to Alpine to test its A424 in real conditions, before putting it into orbit next week for the 1812km of Qatar.

Published 20/02/2024 à 11:36

Dorian Grangier

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General rehearsal for theAlpine A424 before the baptism of fire in Qatar

© Alpine Endurance Team

The big debut in official competition of theAlpine A424 are approaching! The French Hypercar with the Oreca chassis took off towards the Losail circuit to participate in the Prologue of the World ChampionshipEndurance, these February 24 and 25. After a year and a half of development and several months of private testing, beginning in August 2023, the tricolor mount is preparing to enter the big leagues and compete against other Hypercars, of which there are 19 this season in WEC.

“It’s not yet the baptism of fire but we’re getting closer!” This will indeed be our first test session in real conditions, with all our competitors on track., declares Bruno Famin, director ofAlpine Motorsports. We know we have a lot to learn at all levels. Also the priority will be to make the best use of the available track time in order, among other things!, to work on the settings - both chassis and systems -, make the technical team and crews work by finding the right automation, and understand the tires on this very special track. The whole team Alpine Endurance Team is working hard to make this session as productive as possible. The road is long but I have confidence in the commitment of everyone, from the mechanics to the drivers. »

THEAlpine A424 facing the traffic challenge

The WEC Prologue will serve as a dress rehearsal for the team at the A arrow, for the final preparations before the first race of the year, the 1812 km of Qatar. Alpine will have a maximum of fourteen hours of driving over a total of four sessions to train on the circuit that will open the championship, a demanding track for tires with aggressive kerbs.

“Our presence in Qatar is not an objective in itself and we are aware that the road will be long during this learning season, underlines Philippe Sinault, Team Principal ofAlpine EnduranceTeam. We began to refine our simulator preparations last week before the Prologue and an event truly rich in challenges: a ten-hour race on an extremely particular circuit on tire wear, like our colleagues from the F1 were able to experience it. »

The two crews will also seek to gather valuable information on the settings as well as the behavior of their prototype in traffic, which still remains the great unknown in this race. Alpine A424. To maximize these two days of testing, the brand with the A arrow will be able to rely on the experience of one of its drivers: Mick Schumacher, who participated in the Qatar Grand Prix in Formula 1, in 2021. The German, who will take his first steps in Endurance this weekend, will obviously be the center of attention in the French clan. He will still have to learn everything, likeAlpine Endurance Team, at the dawn of this new challenge.

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Dorian Grangier

A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.

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