The Alpine A480 has been revealed for the forthcoming World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, the place it’s going to compete with Toyota and Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus within the new Hypercar class.
The brand new high tier is open to each prototypes and hypercars, with up to date laws introduced in to slash operating and improvement prices, which had ballooned lately.
Audi, Porsche and Honda (by way of its Acura model) have introduced entries for 2023, with Ferrari additionally set to hitch the collection in pursuit of its first total victory at Le Mans since 1965.
Peugeot will be a part of from 2022, with its seven-strong driver line-up together with former Formulation 1 drivers Kevin Magnussen and Paul di Resta, plus Formulation E champion Jean-Éric Vergne.
The A480 is successfully a replica of the Rise up R-13, which competed within the LMP1 class in 2020 till the Swiss privateer pulled out earlier than the season finale in Bahrain.
It’s powered by a 4.5-litre V8 engine provided by Gibson Know-how, whereas its chassis was developed by French agency Oreca. As a part of the brand new WEC laws, all entrants within the Hypercar class might be fitted with Michelin tyres.
Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrão, Matthieu Vaxivière will race the A480 on the Le Mans 24 Hours, which has been pushed again till August in a bid to make sure that followers can attend whereas respecting native measures to stop the unfold of Covid-19.
In the meantime, Philippe Sinault has been retained as Alpine workforce principal, having overseen the model’s endeavours within the decrease LMP2 class since 2014.
“The belief that Alpine has positioned in us for this challenge is a supply of nice pleasure,” mentioned Sinault. “We’re approaching this programme with humility and the will to do properly at a time when the world of endurance racing is at a turning level in its historical past.
“We’re decided to rise to this exhilarating and extremely motivating problem to as soon as once more anchor Alpine within the pantheon of French and worldwide motorsport.”
Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi added: “After eight profitable years, it is now time to hitch the highest class because the model makes a brand new begin. The evolutions of the laws provide us the chance to precise our ardour [and] to exhibit our technical know-how and our expertise in a good and cost-effective framework.”
The 2021 WEC season will begin on 1 Might with the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. In the meantime, Alpine is gearing up for its first season in Formulation 1, having taken over the Renault workforce.
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