Nicolas Lapierre, Alpine’s sporting director, acknowledged that the French constructor missed out on a triumph at Fuji because the team chose not to sacrifice a car during the final pit stop, a decision that allowed Toyota to seize the initiative and claim an unexpected victory.
The two Alpine A424s appeared to hold a commanding position for most of the race distance in Sunday’s sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, until the race reached its fourth and final safety-car phase with 58 minutes remaining.
At that moment, Victor Martins’s No. 36 car led his teammate Milesi in the sister No. 35, but the pair slipped to third and fifth for the final restart, with Martins particularly disadvantaged as rivals such as Toyota and BMW topped up their fuel.
Martins rose from fifth to second but finished just over half a second behind Ryo Hirakawa’s No. 8 Toyota TR010 in the last 20 minutes.
Lapierre described the result as a “bittersweet” feeling on a day when Alpine’s cars finished second and fourth, yielding the team its largest-ever single-race points haul of 30.
“We had one car on the podium and set a record for points in a single race, but it’s always disappointing not to win when the cars are up front for most of the event,” Lapierre said after the checks.
“The crucial call under the final safety car was not to sacrifice a car, so we pitted both cars together. We lost some time and were overtaken by several rivals.”
“Ultimately we could have won by sacrificing the other car, but we chose to stand as a team and keep both cars in contention to the finish. It was my decision, so I take responsibility.”
Martins explained that the pit-lane arrangement—the No. 35 stall ahead of the No. 36—helped determine why he received two left-side tyres for his last stop, while several contenders chose not to change tyres.
“We went for tyres because our sister car was ahead, and we weren’t losing time because of it; you need to reset and push again,” he said. “The tyre change didn’t cost us time, it was advantageous, which is why we did it.”
In addition to the tyre call, Toyota’s decision to short-fill in anticipation of a long safety-car spell after Finn Gehrsitz’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo crash at Turn 1 proved pivotal to its eventual victory.
Martins said of Toyota: “I think they did a good job. They gambled, it paid off, they anticipated well. They were in a position to do so. They were at the end of the pit lane and they could see what everyone else was doing, and just release.”
On the final duel against Hirakawa, the French driver added: “He did well. I wanted to overtake him, to win at Toyota’s home track, but it’s nice to fight like this. But he was ahead. I tried, but I didn’t have enough laps. One or two more laps, maybe…”
Despite the disappointment of missing out on victory, Martins was keen to take away the positives from a weekend that yielded his first podium as a WEC driver.
“I think we were dominant this weekend,” he said. “It’s the second weekend in a row where we are always at the front, fighting. We got pole [by default after qualifying was cancelled], but I think we would have been in the fight for pole anyway.”
“The car is on rails. The guys are doing a superb job. We are always improving. We miss [the win] for a bit, but sometimes racing is like this.”
“We want to win for sure before the end of the season. Now it’s two races left, also some tracks that I know. I discovered Fuji on Friday [in practice] so it was a completely new experience for me.”
“Barcelona I know, so I am 100 percent confident I can deliver 100 percent there. We have everything on the table to win before the end of the season.”
