THE 2024 WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP GETS ANOTHER COMPETITOR - ALPINE'S A424_β HYPERCAR
Alpine Cars have been might busy of late. The popular A110 was recently given a massive steroid dose to beef it up in all areas, and so the A110 R hit the streets. Then, with a bunch of iconic races happening throughout June, the company took the opportunity to get involved. The new A110 R was given one serious makeover complete with massive oversized aero so it’s better suited to take on the legendary Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. Now, with the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans being in the motoring news for the last week, the automaker has announced that it will have an entry in the newly-formed Hypercar category in 2024 - which is already a mere 6 months away. It won’t be the niche automaker’s first foray into the competitive French endurance race, the company actually had an outright win way back in 1978. I say way back with a scowl on my face because that’s the year I was born. The automaker has over 60 years of motorsport history though, and so with a new vigour and some amazing new technologies, Alpine is back. Combining the know-how of Alpine Racing and Signatech with the unique styling of the design department, the racecar that’s been named the A424_β will represent the brand in next year’s race in a class that looks set to be one of the most watched. Everyone and their dog has a new tech EV or hybrid racecar looking to show off in the class.
After a successful decade-long partnership, things continue with fellow French company Oreca and so this new racecar features their new LMDh-class hypercar chassis. “We needed to bring two very different universes together”, says Christophe Chapelain, Alpine LMDh Chief Engineer. The A424_β has been given distinctive rear lighting to prove that engineering and design can unite properly to create some amazing details that look great but actually have a function over form character. “This is perhaps the car’s most striking element”, says Raphaël Linari, Alpine Chief Exterior and Racing Designer. “We have created a signature specific to our LMDh by reinterpreting the arrowed A”. It’s quite nice of the engineers and designers to think about the view competitors will be staring at for hours on end. For the powerplant, Alpine Racing partnered up with Mecachrome, a company with heaps of specific endurance racing experience. The company worked closely with the Viry-Châtillon experts in the Alpine Racing team to create a powerful turbocharged 3.4-litre V6 that has some 700 hp on tap, and it has a hybrid side that’s been created using the brand’s trickle-down expertise from Formula 1. This powerplant is mated to a 6-speed Xtrac paddle-shift transmission, and with the whole shebang tipping the scales at a mere 1030 kg, it promises to be something special on track. While it’s all mighty impressive, the other entries to the new Hypercar class are equally amazing - and that’s why we’re watching this class in next year’s World Endurance Championship.
Take a look at the YouTube video from race fanatic channel Formula Jonah where he explains all the available information that was available leading up to the reveal of this new Alpine hypercar that's set to compete in the 2024 World Endurance Championship in the new class set of for such cars: First Look At 2024 Alpine LMDh | Formula Jonah
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