Signatech Alpine Matmut aims to finish WEC year in style at Shanghai

Signatech Alpine Matmut aims to finish WEC year in style at Shanghai

The FIA World Endurance Championship will conclude the first part of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit.

The Signatech Alpine Matmut team will seek a fifth consecutive podium result this year to widen the gap to their rivals.
Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrão and Pierre Thiriet will once again be behind the wheel of the n°36 Alpine A470.

Five weeks after the first Asian round of the FIA WEC, the field now heads across the China Sea, and more precisely to Shanghai

The 5.451km long Shanghai circuit offers a variety of challenges such as turn one, which progressively tightens, a string of high-speed corners and a 1,400m long straight and a hairpin at its end. 

This weekend the Signatech Alpine Matmut team returns to a track where it has enjoyed some of its greatest success. 

In 2015, the Alpine A450b scored its first win in the FIA WEC. A year later, the Alpine A460 won the LMP2 crown with one round to spare, while the Alpine A470 finished second last year and stayed in contention for the title.

With four podium results and a win in four rounds this season, the n°36 Alpine will look to keep the momentum going. Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrão and Pierre Thiriet can rely on the French team’s rich past in China as it will attempt to pull away from the two teams entered under a Chinese license that are both just one point behind. 

The final round of the calendar year and fifth of the 2018-2019 Super Season promises to be intense with every team wanting to get the psychological and numerical advantage over its adversaries before the long break ahead of the 1000 Miles of Sebring on March 15, 2019. 

Following the three free-practice sessions, the LMP1 and LMP2 competitors will qualify on Saturday at 14:30 local time (GMT +8). The 6 Hours of Shanghai will start Sunday at 11:00 local time, or 04:00 CET. 


Quotes
Philippe Sinault, Team principal Signatech Alpine Matmut 
“For this last race of the year, we will head to a circuit we know very well and where we have been very strong in the past. It is a punishing track for the tyres, especially the snail-like turn one that is particularly tough on left-side rubber. We have prepared very well for this race by working on our strategy, the set-ups and the simulator and our goal will be to have the same dynamic that we had at Fuji, where we were in contention for the win. The installation of the team was slightly disrupted after the emergency landing of our flight in Siberia but we feel ready to take on the challenge in this battle where every point counts!”

Régis Fricotté, Alpine Sales and Competition Director“Following our victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a podium in the 6 Hours of Fuji, we maintained our lead in the championship. Our target in Shanghai is to put in a faultless race to score points, pull away in the general classification and put ourselves in the best possible position for the second-half of the season.”
 

Timetable (GMT+1)
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16 
4:00: free practice 1 (90 minutes)
8:30: free practice 2 (90 minutes)

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17 
2:50: free practice 3 (60 minutes)
7:30: qualifying LMP1 / LMP2 (20 minutes)

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18 
4:00: 6 Hours of Shanghai
 


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