Alpine Endurance Team ready to conclude its learning season with the Alpine A424 in Bahrain.
02-11-2024 10:36 - MOTORSPORT
Launched in February in Qatar, the 2024 FIA WEC season returns to the Middle East for the final round in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
This eighth and final race of the calendar will also close the first campaign of the A424, the Hypercar with which Alpine Endurance Team returned to the premier category. Nearly two months after their first podium finish, Les Bleus will continue their learning process in all areas to extract their full potential in the future and will approach this meeting with reshuffled crews.
Nicolas Lapierre, appointed Alpine Endurance Team Sporting Director from 2025 onwards, will familiarise himself with his future duties at this race. For ergonomic reasons, Charles Milesi will replace him alongside Matthieu Vaxiviere and Mick Schumacher. Reserve driver Jules Gounon will make his fourth start this year, joining Paul-Loup Chatin and Ferdinand Habsburg in the sister car.
The two trios aim to do everything possible to shine on the Bahrain International Circuit. The 5,412-metre track, renowned for its tyre-demanding surface and the hazards created by the desert sand surrounding it, will evoke fond memories for Alpine Endurance Team. In 2015, Alpine secured its first world LMP2 pole position at Sakhir before doing so again the following two years. The A-arrow brand also scored a podium in 2016 and three more overall in 2021 and 2022.
Evaluating the various Michelin tyre compounds during free practice will be even more crucial than usual. It will be carried out in collaboration between engineers and drivers in parallel with the work on set-up, fuel consumption, and driving times, which are three crucial subjects due to the atypical eight-hour format of this event.
The action gets underway on Thursday before qualifying and hyperpole on Friday. The race will start on Saturday at 2 pm local time (noon CET). During the stints, the competitors will face the challenge of decreasing light and temperatures as they move further into the night. After the finish, the team will remain on-site on Sunday for the Rookie Test, where Jules Gounon and Victor Martins will share the driving duties.
This eighth and final race of the calendar will also close the first campaign of the A424, the Hypercar with which Alpine Endurance Team returned to the premier category. Nearly two months after their first podium finish, Les Bleus will continue their learning process in all areas to extract their full potential in the future and will approach this meeting with reshuffled crews.
Nicolas Lapierre, appointed Alpine Endurance Team Sporting Director from 2025 onwards, will familiarise himself with his future duties at this race. For ergonomic reasons, Charles Milesi will replace him alongside Matthieu Vaxiviere and Mick Schumacher. Reserve driver Jules Gounon will make his fourth start this year, joining Paul-Loup Chatin and Ferdinand Habsburg in the sister car.
The two trios aim to do everything possible to shine on the Bahrain International Circuit. The 5,412-metre track, renowned for its tyre-demanding surface and the hazards created by the desert sand surrounding it, will evoke fond memories for Alpine Endurance Team. In 2015, Alpine secured its first world LMP2 pole position at Sakhir before doing so again the following two years. The A-arrow brand also scored a podium in 2016 and three more overall in 2021 and 2022.
Evaluating the various Michelin tyre compounds during free practice will be even more crucial than usual. It will be carried out in collaboration between engineers and drivers in parallel with the work on set-up, fuel consumption, and driving times, which are three crucial subjects due to the atypical eight-hour format of this event.
The action gets underway on Thursday before qualifying and hyperpole on Friday. The race will start on Saturday at 2 pm local time (noon CET). During the stints, the competitors will face the challenge of decreasing light and temperatures as they move further into the night. After the finish, the team will remain on-site on Sunday for the Rookie Test, where Jules Gounon and Victor Martins will share the driving duties.
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