Alpine Elf Endurance Team's comeback upset 12.06.2022: • Alpine Elf Endurance Team enters the home stretch of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. • During the night, the No. 36 Alpine A480 patiently moved up the order before returning to the garage for the third time after running off track.

•    Alpine Elf Endurance Team enters the home stretch of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.


•    During the night, the No. 36 Alpine A480 patiently moved up the order before returning to the garage for the third time after running off track.


•    The team is targeting the finish to secure valuable points in defence of its lead in the FIA World Endurance Championship.


 


Still fighting and determined despite the problems encountered in the first hours of the race, Alpine Elf Endurance Team continued its comeback during the dreaded night of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.


 
The Alpine A480 re-entered the top 20 at dawn thanks to the combined efforts of André Negrão, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere. The trio also benefited from the faultless performance of the team in charge of the stops and the rise in temperatures in the early hours of the morning to increase the pace and overtake more LMP2 cars.



The trio put in a series of triple stints and overtakes, first led by Nicolas Lapierre, then Matthieu Vaxiviere, just until he was trapped in traffic while trying to avoid a GT. Contact with the tyre wall forced the A480 to return to the garage for the third time since the start of the race.



After a 20-minute intervention for a total of 27 minutes lost, André Negrão rejoined the race with a single objective: to reach the finish with six hours remaining.


 

André Negrão

"It was a pretty solid night. We had to push as much as possible to make the car and tyres work as well as possible. There was no saving on fuel either, so it was a bit like qualifying over several hours. Despite our best efforts, we were still far behind the other Hypercars.


Even before Matthieu's incident, we had decided to do everything we could to secure points at the finish. Our troubles prevented us to go for a good result, but we still lead the championship at the moment."




Philippe Sinault, Alpine Elf Endurance Team Principal


"It was a long, hard night. We've known since last year that our tyres don't work as well when the temperatures drop, and the drivers kept looking for the grip they needed to get them into the right thermal window. It was even more difficult to overtake the LMP2 cars as their engines perform better in cooler conditions.


We came back slowly, thanks to consistency, strategy and efficient stops, and with a faultless performance by the team and our three drivers. We also took advantage of the second garage intervention to change the brakes, which could have played in our favour if there had not been a neutralisation.



Unfortunately, Matthieu was unlucky in traffic and got trapped on the dirty part of the track while trying to avoid a GT. The team now has only one mission: to avoid the increasing number of incidents and to finish to secure points."
 




RESULTS

Start: 3rd (3rd Hypercar)
Hour 1: 5th (5th Hypercar) + 31.032s - 17 laps
Hour 2: 4th (4th Hypercar) +2:49.336s - 34 laps
Hour 3: 4th (4th Hypercar) + 2:25.404s - 50 laps
Hour 4: 18th (5th Hypercar) +3 laps - 62 laps
Hour 5: 32nd (5th Hypercar) +7 laps - 75 laps
Hour 6: 28th (5th Hypercar) +7 laps - 91 laps
Hour 7: 28th (5th Hypercar) +8 laps - 107 laps
Hour 8: 28th (5th Hypercar) +8 laps - 123 laps
Hour 9: 27th (5th Hypercar) +8 laps - 139 laps
Hour 10: 26th (5th Hypercar) +9 laps – 154 laps
Hour 11: 23rd (5th Hypercar) +9 laps - 171 laps
Hour 12: 22nd (5th Hypercar) +9 laps - 187 laps
Hour 13: 21st (5th Hypercar) +10 laps - 203 laps
Hour 14: 21st (5th Hypercar) +10 laps - 218 laps
Hour 15: 19th (5th Hypercar) +10 laps - 234 laps
Hour 16: 17th (5th Hypercar)  +11 laps - 249 laps
Hour 17: 17th (5th Hypercar) +11 laps - 263 laps
Hour 18: 29th (5th Hypercar) +17 laps - 270 laps
 




Orianne Tamburini- photos Alpine