Alpine used this weekend’s 2023 Le Mans 24H race to unveil the machine it hopes will help it take top honors in next year’s event. The performance-focused Renault sub-brand has been competing in the LMP2 category for a decade but wants to step up to the premier LMDh class so it can say it has won the race outright. Taking the victory in Le Mans’ top tier category could prove invaluable as a marketing tool as Alpine looks to roll out a new range of electric road cars around the world, including in North America.
Called the Alpine A424_β, the racer is powered by a 3.4-liter single-turbo 90-degree V6 mated to a seven-speed Xtrac transmission, a Bosch-developed hybrid unit and a battery from Williams. The combustion engine generates 671 hp (680 PS / 500 kW) and the hybrid system contributes 67 hp (68 PS / 50 kW), which doesn’t sound like much when compared with the kind of four-figure power outputs modern road-going supercars are making.
But the Alpine is of course, incredibly light, weighing around 2,271 lbs (1,030 kg) depending on how much ballast is applied to meet racing’s balance of performance requirements.
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The carbon body bears more than a passing resemblance to last year’s Alpenglow hypercar concept, though the fender shapes and the cockpit bubble are even more exaggerated in the racer, which also features a giant fin running from the roof to meet the equally huge wing running transversely across the rear of the car. We particularly like the roof snorkel, an obvious nod (along with the name) to the Alpine A442 that won Le Mans in 1978.
Under the skin is a carbon chassis designed by Oreca that’s equipped with double wishbone suspension, pushrod dampers, electric power steering and carbon ceramic brakes with six-piston dampers. Wheels measure 18 inches in diameter all around, but are 12.5 inches wide at the front and 14 inches wide at the back.
The A424’s engine has already completed dyno checks and the next step is for the car to complete shakedown runs at Lurcy-Lévis in France at the end of July. It then undergoes its first test session at Paul Ricard in August and completes two more before taking part in a 24-hour test in November. By March Alpine will be ready for the 424 to compete in its first FIA WEC race, the 6 Hours of Qatar, ahead of an assault on the Le Mans title in June 2024.
