After several seasons under LMP1 regulations, and a year of transition to LMP2, the Alpine team made its debut in the Hypercar category in 2024, with two A424 LMDhs entered in the WEC.
After having experienced a difficult start to the season, marked in particular by the double retirement due to engine failure in the first hours of racing during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team led by Philippe Sinault recorded its first podium with third place taken during the 6 Hours of Fuji by the crew Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher and Matthieu Vaxiviere.
While Alpine has announced that Nicolas Lapierre will put aside his commitment as a driver to become sporting director of the team next year, where he will support Philippe Sinault, Bruno Famin, the brand’s vice-president of motorsport , declared that the manufacturer with the crossed out A could also enter the other side of the Atlantic, in IMSA, in the near future.
The WEC and IMSA have developed common regulations, which allow manufacturers to enter, with the same car, in both championships. Many brands are currently evolving on both continents, simultaneously, like Porsche, BMW and Cadillac. For the moment, Toyota, Ferrari, Peugeot and Alpine have focused their commitment on the WEC, but Alpine could be interested in the North American series in the near future, as Bruno Famin confided.
Will the Alpines be appearing on American circuits in a few years?
Photo de: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
“We will be happy [de courir en IMSA]”, declared Famin during an interview with Motorsport.com. “There is no real plan, there is an idea at the moment to race in IMSA, because it is no secret that the Alpine brand would like to be in the American market in the coming years and, of course, motorsport is the way to build brand awareness.”
“Of course, once the brand decides to go to the United States, it will make a lot of sense to have an IMSA program. But for now, we are only at the idea stage. We are thinking about it, we are thinking about it. There is no concrete plan yet.”
If the Alpine brand is not currently present in North America, Renault has indicated that it wants to establish itself on the other side of the Atlantic by 2027. A commitment to IMSA would therefore make sense in this perspective. .
However, if Alpine’s WEC campaign constitutes an official commitment, carried out jointly with the Signatech team, a long-standing partner of the French brand in competition, a possible IMSA program should be carried out through a team American, like BMW with the RLL team, or Cadillac with Chip Ganassi Racing.
Asked about this, Bruno Famin replied: “Not yet, not really. We have some contacts because I know people there. But nothing yet. Again, it’s not a project at the moment. It’s just a idea.”
