• Alpine produced a convincing performance in the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, with the second-fastest lap time amongst the LMP2 runners, plus a strategy that enabled the team to make one fewer pit-stop than its rivals.
• Crewed as usual by Nelson Panciatici, Paul-Loup Chatin and Vincent Capillaire, the Alpine A450b finished sixth in-class, barely 20 seconds adrift of the rostrum. • The next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) will be the 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan, in just under three weeks’ time.
Keen to capitalise upon all the hard work put in by Signatech-Alpine since the beginning of the 2015 campaign, Nelson Panciatici, Paul-Loup Chatin and Vincent Capillaire arrived in the United States with a podium finish in their sights.
On their debut around Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, the two-time European Le Mans Series champions underlined their potential right from the get-go in free practice by posting the fastest time in-class on Friday – and only a starter-motor problem prevented the team from fully exploiting that promise during the qualifying session.
Chatin took to the wheel for the start of the six-hour race, and he successfully kept pace with the class leaders by dint of judiciously managing his tyre wear in the searing heat. Panciatici then went on the attack after bolting on two new tyres when he pitted for fuel during his double stint. At mid-distance, the Alpine A450b briefly topped the LMP2 classification. Capillaire and Panciatici – who drove the final phase – subsequently maintained the team’s excellent performance. Despite an ideally-executed strategy, however, Signatech-Alpine unfortunately found itself out of luck with the timing of the safety car periods, which ultimately denied the squad the much-coveted podium finish that had looked to be well within its grasp.
When the chequered flag flew, the Alpine A450b was sixth in-class, less than a second adrift of fourth place and barely 20 seconds shy of the rostrum.
Philippe Sinault (Signatech-Alpine Team Principal): “We are obviously very disappointed to miss out on the podium by just over 20 seconds and fourth position by a mere eight tenths-of-a-second in such a long race. We opted for a bold strategy so as to make one fewer pit-stop than any of our rivals – and it very nearly paid off. We proved in Austin that we are genuine podium challengers. The Alpine A450b led the LMP2 class at the three-hour mark, and Nelson posted the second-fastest lap time of the race. It was the most competitive we have been all year. The work that has been carried out by the team on the performance of the car and its tyre and fuel management is quite frankly remarkable. We are continuing to make progress with the Alpine A450b, and we have considerably reduced the gap to the class leaders. There is now very little to choose between any of the LMP2 contenders, which bodes well for an exciting finish to the season in Asia.”
Paul-Loup Chatin: “We knew that our ability to look after our tyres well could be a significant advantage and, when I started the race, my focus was on not taking too much life out of them. The objective was to remain in touch with our rivals whilst taking care of our tyres. This was the most competitive we have been since joining the World Endurance Championship.”
Nelson Panciatici: “The first part of the race went well. With two new tyres on the car to complete my double stint, I was able to really push and set some strong lap times. We unlocked some secrets this weekend to extracting even more performance from the Alpine A450b, and now we need to make sure we put everything together to reach the podium that so narrowly eluded us in Austin. Even if the final result was not what we wanted, it was an extremely encouraging race. It’s just frustrating to miss out by only 20 seconds at the end of six hours!”
Vincent Capillaire: “This was without question the best performance we have produced all season. Like in the Le Mans 24 Hours, we were in the fight for the podium and all we lacked was a little bit of luck. A series of minor issues combined to cost us around 45 seconds. The end result is evidently very disappointing for the whole team because we know we deserved to be on the podium. On the positive side, though, it is a very promising omen for the forthcoming three races.”
LMP2 Classification – 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas 1. G-Drive Racing #26 170 laps2. KCMG #47 +1m21.165s3. G-Drive Racing #28 + 1 lap4. Extreme Speed Motorsports #30 + 1 lap5. Team Sard Morand #43 + 1 lap6. Signatech-Alpine #36 + 1 lap7. Strakka Racing #42 + 2 laps
FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams after four rounds1. KCMG #47 122 points2. G-Drive #26 108 points3. G-Drive #28 104 points4. Extreme Speed Motorsports #30 44 points5. Extreme Speed Motorsports #31 42 points6. Team Sard Morand #43 40 points7. Strakka Racing #42 37 points8. Oak Racing #35 34 points9. Signatech-Alpine #36 30 points
