The victory at Fuji brought relief to Alpine in the Endurance World Championship. According to Nicolas Lapierre, the team’s sports director, the triumph in Japan came at a good time, as there was increasing pressure to achieve a good result.
Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg, and Paul-Loup Chatin were on board the #35 car and in a busy race marked by numerous safety car interventions, they managed to surpass the Peugeot #93 drivers in a direct battle.
The crucial moment for the trio was in the last pit stop, when the team opted to give Milesi only two new left tires, allowing him to approach Mikkel Jensen, who had all four new compounds.
In the end, he crossed the finish line with a 10-second advantage and thus brought the first victory for Alpine in the WEC since 2022 and the first since they returned to the Hypercars last year. “It’s a good moment for the team, for the project. It was a very strategic decision by the team at the end, with a good pace on the track,” said Lapierre.
“Fuji was a good track for us last year, and we know that the pace has been strong lately and that the team has operationally evolved, but there was always something in our way and we couldn’t score results since Le Mans. When we arrived here, we were confident, but the race didn’t start as we wanted; we had penalties and were at a disadvantage again. But fortunately, we were able to react and conquer this first victory,” he continued.
“Clearly, we had a good start to the season, so we expected to capitalize on that. We knew that Le Mans would be difficult, but in the two following races, we had pace, but we couldn’t score many points, so we could feel the pressure increasing. It was important to guarantee a good result today, and winning is great,” he concluded.
