Alpine officially kicked off the new 2024 adventure in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the A424 LMDh by taking part in the Prologue tests which took place on Monday and Tuesday in Lusail.
In Qatar on Saturday the 1812 km which opens the championship will take place and the French team is trying to face the challenge lightly, with the awareness that there are many things to learn and they cannot afford to make mistakes wasting time.
Meanwhile, in collective testing the two cars prepared by the Signatech team covered 467 laps together for a total of 2,530 km of data and information collected with Charles Milesi/Ferdinand Habsburg/Paul-Loup Chatin (#35) and Matthieu Vaxiviere/Mick Schumacher/Nicolas Lapierre (#36).
The only problem occurred on the first car when Milesi had to park in the escape route due to an engine problem, which was later fixed by returning to action; for the rest, there are also those who are facing their very first challenge in this series, obviously talking about Schumacher.
#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen, Charles Milesi
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
“We worked hard to improve all aspects of the car. The Prologue also allowed me to sample some of the challenges of endurance racing, such as traffic management, and it was useful to rely on my knowledge of the track to orient myself,” he said. said the German.
“We've done a lot of km to gather information and I can't wait to take part in my first race. The aim will be to have a serious race, make the most of our package and finish it.”
Milesi instead looked at the positive sides: “It was a positive Prologue that allowed us to discover Qatar, where some teams had the opportunity to carry out tests this winter”.
“We had two good days during which we learned a lot about the car and the track, improving in different areas. Now we have a good base to work on during Free Practice. We are making gradual progress during this long week and we are all looking forward to seeing what the match will be reserved for us.”
His teammate Habsburg adds: “I had a lot of fun with the team during the Prologue. This weekend I was a little nervous before the first laps in an official session, but we had a good test.”
“In this first time on track against all the other manufacturers, we have improved from one session to the next. I can't wait to face them all in the race with my teammates!”.
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
Photo by: Erik Junius
Chatin echoes him: “It was a good Prologue overall and we can be quite satisfied. We had a large test plan to complete and we managed to complete it to give the engineers a lot of data to analyze between now and Thursday.”
“We had an engine problem, but the team did a fast and excellent job to change it and get us back on track. In these conditions, this great collective effort for the first time with a new car highlights the strength of the team.”
Vaxiviere comments: “The Prologue was rewarding from many points of view. We took the measurements of the Lusail circuit while continuing our in-depth work with the A424”.
“We went in the right direction, the sessions went well and we learned a lot in different areas of how our LMDh works. We will continue to work hard to progress step by step, and the intensity will increase until our first race on Saturday!”
I also load Lapierre: “This Prologue was particularly exciting because it was the first official session of our project with the A424. Overall, things went quite well and we tried everything we wanted on the car, the energy management and the tyres, but this hectic week has just begun.”
“In two days we learned a lot in different conditions. We need to quickly analyze all the data collected to fine-tune our setup and prepare our strategy.”
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
Photo by: Erik Junius
Philippe Sinault, Alpine Team Principal, comments: “We knew that the Prologue would be intense, and so it was, with a renewed program that forced the entire team and the organizers to demonstrate their ability to adapt.”
“It was a full dress rehearsal for the drivers, engineers and mechanics. Overall, the two days were satisfying. The team is in place, the processes are clearly defined and everyone works well as a unit, with a healthy dose of emulation between the various members”.
“We did some short laps with several long stints, which is key to familiarizing ourselves with the Michelin compounds available for the race. The team reacted very well to the engine problem, we dealt with it quickly and calmly to minimize the loss of time, which allowed us to complete our program.”
“The next few hours will be used to rebuild the cars before starting our first race weekend here in Qatar.”
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