Signatech-Alpine driver Paul-Loup Chatin has been rewarded with this major distinction during the 82nd edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours.The Jean Rondeau Prize is awarded each year to a young French hope who has displayed talent, determination and courage.
After the team’s collective efforts were recognised in 2013 with the ESCRA Prize for the best technical support during the Le Mans 24 Hours, Signatech-Alpine has again been awarded but this time on an individual level, with Paul-Loup Chatin being conferred the Jean Rondeau Prize.
An integral member of the project since its launch, Chatin first drove the Alpine A450 at the Le Mans 24 Hours Test Day in 2013.
A Junior Alpine protégé and reserve driver last season, he triumphed in the LMPC class of the European Le Mans Series before being promoted to the team’s full-time line-up this year. He is now partnered by Nelson Panciatici – who received the same accolade in 2012 – and Oliver Webb.
Bernard Ollivier, Alpine Director: “We are extremely proud and honoured to see Paul-Loup Chatin receive this prestigious award. Alpine has always been about giving opportunities to young drivers. Paul-Loup shares our brand’s DNA. He is friendly and gets on well with everybody in the team, with a great sense of humour. There are few drivers capable of performing at such a high level on the racetrack whilst achieving excellent grades in their studies at Sciences Po Paris. He was a Junior driver with us last year. Now he is an official driver for Alpine, he is proving at every available opportunity that he is fully deserving of the confidence we have placed in him.”
Paul-Loup Chatin: “It is a tremendous privilege to receive such an accolade, and I will do my very best to live up to the hopes and expectations placed in me. When I look at the calibre of drivers who have received this award before me, I can really appreciate the honour that has been bestowed upon me today. I also owe this trophy to Alpine. The Jean Rondeau Prize is entirely in-keeping with the brand’s renaissance spirit, with a genuine desire to play a major role in supporting young drivers like myself.”
