Two Alpine A424 cars at Portimao - final test session of the year

Two Alpine A424s and the complete line-up at Portimao - Alpine Endurance Team headed to Portimão this week for its final test session of the year ahead of its 2024 Hypercar programme. - This was the first test session with two Alpine A424s and the six recently announced official drivers. - After its windtunnel tests in the USA in November, the A424 continued its homologation process in Switzerland. The homologation process is currently being completed at the FIA’s Valleiry facilities in France. - In total: two days of running focused on development with just over 3,000 km covered (1,443 km for #35 and 1,562 km for #36), with no technical problems significant enough to delay the completion of the work schedule. - For the first time, the presence of the six drivers in the 2024 line-up allowed the technical teams for the crews to work on the cockpit, refuelling processes, driver changes, pitlane and garage procedures. - The two days of testing were an opportunity to develop the homologated aerodynamic package, alternating between short and long runs with each driver. The aim was to improve the car and engine setups but also the interaction of the various systems as well as energy and fuel management. - Furthermore, the session also provided an opportunity to continue working on tyre management and evaluate the different compounds proposed by our partner, Michelin. Bruno Famin, VP Alpine Motorsports: “The whole team has done a huge amount of work throughout this development period; we’ve come a long way since we first took to the track at Le Castellet four months ago. The two hypercars ran without any major problems disrupting the test programme, but there is still a huge amount of work to do, and everyone involved in the programme is doing their best to ensure we are as ready as possible for the season opener in Qatar. We will approach that race with the utmost humility.“ Philippe Sinault, Alpine Endurance Team Manager: “This test session at Portimao was an important step in our development programme. Our 2024 line-up was together for the very first time. I had no doubts about their behaviour and adaptability, and this confirms that we made the right choice. They settled in very quickly and are taking this project very much to heart. Nevertheless, development is far from complete, and we still have many hours of work ahead of us before the first meetings of the season.“