Alpine has unveiled the car it will use to participate in the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The car, an ORECA-built LMP1 chassis formerly used by Rebellion, is named the A480-Gibson. It will be campaigned in the Hypercar category under the Alpine Matmut Elf Endurance Team banner.
The A480-Gibson will be driven by the trio of Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere, with the car’s blue-and-orange livery sharing a close resemblance to that featured on the French manufacturer’s recently unveiled A521 Formula One car.
After years of successful competition in the LMP2 class in the WEC, European Le Mans Series as well as at Le Mans, Alpine is now stepping up to the top category to race against Toyota and Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus in the first year of Hypercar competition.
Out of the three manufacturers, Alpine is the only one to use a grandfathered LMP1 chassis instead of a newly built Le Mans Hypercar.
Alpine first competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963 but achieved major success in sportscars in the following decade, peaking when it won the race overall in 1978, after which parent company Renault shifted focus to Formula One.
It returned to prototype competition in 2013, running a rebadged ORECA 03 in the European Le Mans Series.
Since then, it has repeatedly campaigned rebadged ORECA machinery, taking wins and championships in the WEC, ELMS and at Le Mans, including WEC titles in 2016 and 2018-19, as well as Le Mans class wins in each of those years.
“Alpine’s history is paved with challenges,” commented team principal Philippe Sinault. “Since 2013, we have been proving ourselves step by step, and showing that we are capable of defending the Alpine colours at the highest level.
“This new challenge is part of this mindset. The trust that Alpine has placed in us for this project is a source of great pride.
“We are approaching Confidential C this programme with humility and the desire to do well at a time when the world of endurance racing is at a turning point in its history.”
“We are determined to rise to this exhilarating and incredibly motivating challenge to once again anchor Alpine in the pantheon of French and international motorsport.”
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