Alpine has officially announced that it will participate with two cars in the entire 2024 WEC (World Endurance Championship) season organized by the FIA and will develop a new sports prototype according to the LMDh “overseas” rules. The long-awaited news from August in Le Mans was confirmed on Tuesday evening in Paris. In three years, the same cars will also make their debut in the French queen race, precisely at Le Mans.
Entry into the category LMH (Le Mans Hypercar) with LMDh cars (mainly intended for the American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship category) is possible on the basis of the unification of the ACO and IMSA rules, which will take place from the 2023 season, for example through the Balance of Performance system.
Alpine therefore undertakes to create a hypercar based on the frame developed by Oreca, his trusted partner. Obviously, unlike the current LMP1 with Gibson engine, the LMDh Alpine will have an engine created by the Viry-Châtillon manufacturer.
In addition to Alpine, many manufacturers planned for the WEC 2024
With the confirmation of the Alpine LMDh project for WEC 2024, the premier class of world endurance continues to conquer top-level players. It should be remembered that Toyota and Glickenhaus already compete with two prototype hypercars (LMHs) in the premier class of the WEC. Peugeot and ByKolles will join them in 2022. Ferrari, for its part, will debut in 2023, the year in which the LMDh prototypes will arrive. Among the manufacturers who have opted for this option in the development of their vehicles there are Porsche, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Acura and now Alpine (albeit for 2024), an illustrious list that Lamborghini will almost certainly join.
The Signatech team, with which the French brand returned to motorsport in 2013, will continue to oversee Alpine’s racing program. Alpine and Philipp Sinault’s team won titles in the European Le Mans Series and WEC, as well as a triumph at Le Mans (all within LMP 2).
“At Signatech, we are very proud to have chosen us at Alpine to work with LMDh cars. We have great ambitions and we are happy that our partnership is expanding into other dimensions “, Sinault said.
Alpine, in collaboration with the Signatech team, is also active this season in the WEC championship. In the LMH class, the French deploy an old prototype LMP 1 Alpine A480 Gibson in which Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere alternate driving. They are currently in third place before the last two races of the season scheduled in Bahrain.