Renault seems very determined to make its re-born Alpine brand more well-known, in preparation for the launch of the first Alpine-branded car in a very long time, set to take place in 2016.
The road car is developed by Renault and Caterham, with which the French automaker signed an agreement for the creation of the “Societe des Automobiles Alpine Caterham” in November of last year.
Until then, they will be promoting the brand, so that by the 2016 launch deadline, people will know what to expect. Aside from the five classic Alpine A110s, which they entered in the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, they have something even bigger planned for later this year – a return to the world of endurance racing.
Alpine will compete at the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours race (June 22-23), as well as the European Le Mans Series. This marks the end of a 35-year absence from endurance racing. The cars they will be using are LMP2 prototypes, which will feature an Alpine chassis, powered by a 500hp Nissan-sourced engine.
It will be somewhat of a return to its roots, for Alpine, which as a racing team participated in the Le Mans 24 Hours race eleven times between 1963 and 1978, using a total of 55 factory-racing cars in the process.
By Andrei Nedelea
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