Two cars at the finish and a Top 10: Alpine satisfied with his first in Hypercar

The contract is fulfilled for Alpine, for its first performance with the A424 in a Hypercar. The French team achieved its main objective: finishing the 1812 of Qatar, the opening round of the WEC, with both cars on arrival and without major mechanical problems. The icing on the cake: the A fléché was the best new team on the field, ahead of BMW, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini thanks to 8th place in theAlpine n°35 of the trio Charles Milesi – Ferdinand Habsburg – Paul-Loup Chatin. An 8th place means points for Philippe Sinault's men.

“We knew it would be difficult to start with a ten-hour race on a new circuit, but we are happy with this performance. We returned a clean copy. It's a great achievement to reach the finish with our two cars, one of which was in the top ten, rejoices the Team Principal ofAlpine Endurance team.Finishing this event with our two crews allowed the entire team, from the mechanics to the drivers to the engineers, to learn a lot about our technical and human package. I would also like to thank and congratulate each member of the team. I have rarely seen people so engaged in a project. The foundations are now laid after these ten intense days in Qatar. We have clearly taken a new step, but we know that the road is still very long. »

An encouraging pace forAlpine A424

If the reliability was there, the performance was also rather encouraging for a first. The tricolor LMDh was not ridiculous in its battles against the Toyota and BMWs, two mounts older than the A424. “It was a successful race and we didn't necessarily expect to finish in the top ten for our debut on a new circuit, declared Charles Milesi at the finish of the race. It was already a great achievement to cross the finish line with both cars, but having one in eighth position is a real bonus. Our pace seems promising against several other manufacturers, which is encouraging for the future even if there is still a lot to learn and understand. The team has done a great job and we are all looking forward to Imola. »

THEAlpine No. 36, 12th at the finish, was also in contention for points, but a few errors – notably an exit from Mick Schumacher in the gravel, fortunately without consequences – deprived her of a Top 10. Not enough to tarnish the good results of the A arrow this weekend, especially not for the German driver, delighted by his first experience in the WEC. “This first week of racing ends with a lot of positives and learning in this world of Endurance, reacted Mick Schumacher. We had a good pace to fight for points, which wasn't necessarily expected, so we can be really happy and I'm very happy that the sister car crew managed it. We have a solid, united and ambitious team for the next meeting. »

In the championship, Alpine is ranked in 5th place among Manufacturers with 12 points, thanks to the 8th place of No. 35 (in the Manufacturer ranking, only the best car from a manufacturer is counted).

ALSO READ > A “perfect start to the season on both sides of the Atlantic” for Porsche