Alpine targeting stateside WEC success

A fortnight after its Mexican adventure, the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is Texas-bound for Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.

With a 30-point lead in the LMP2 class standings, the N°36 Signatech-Alpine crew of Nicolas Lapierre, Stéphane Richelmi and Gustavo Menezes has a fourth victory of the season firmly in its sights.Having consistently gained momentum since the Nürburgring, Nelson Panciatici, Ho-Pin Tung and David Cheng (N°35 Baxi DC Racing Alpine) are eyeing their first podium finish of the 2016 campaign.

Situated some 1,500km north of Mexico City and on the same latitude, Austin is revving up to welcome round six of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the eagerly-anticipated 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas. Running from day into night in what is expected to be intense heat and with the possibility of rain showers, the series’ drivers and teams alike are steeling themselves for an exhausting encounter.

After scooping the runner-up spoils in the 6 Hours of Mexico earlier this month – less than two seconds shy of victory – Nicolas Lapierre, Stéphane Richelmi and Gustavo Menezes are eager to get back on the winning trail, all the more so with the event marking the latter’s home race! Having already triumphed on three occasions this year – at Spa-Francorchamps, Le Mans and the Nürburgring – the drivers of the N°36 Signatech-Alpine have ably underscored their pace, potential, maturity and close working relationship. Those qualities have enabled them to establish a 30-point advantage at the top of the FIA Endurance Trophy LMP2 class standings, equating to more than a victory in hand over their closest pursuers.

Points-scoring finishes at the Nürburgring and in Mexico confirmed the progress that Nelson Panciatici, Ho-Pin Tung and David Cheng are continuing to make behind the wheel of the N°35 Baxi DC Racing Alpine. Buoyed by their burgeoning momentum, they are firmly focussed on reaching the rostrum before the end of the season!

Following free practice on Thursday and qualifying on Friday, the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas will roar into life at 5pm local time (GMT-5) on Saturday, September 17. Shortly before mid-distance, nightfall will envelop the Texan track in darkness, recreating the legendary magic of Le Mans.

Bernard Ollivier, Deputy Managing Director of Alpine: “We are approaching this race with a calm confidence and a conquering spirit! We have a healthy championship lead with four rounds remaining, and the further we get into the season, the more the pressure is building upon our rivals because they will start running out of opportunities to close the gap. By the same token, we are eager to keep winning, since victory and panache are two of Alpine’s core values. We demonstrated that again in Mexico, by putting all of our efforts into our pursuit of the class leader right the way to the chequered flag. Both of our crews are fired-up for a strong week, and it would be fantastic to see Gustavo Menezes celebrate a good result on home soil.”

Philippe Sinault, Signatech-Alpine Team Principal: “We have passed the season’s halfway point with a solid championship lead, so now we must remain fully focused and avoid all the potential pitfalls. In Austin, we will need to pay particularly close attention to the weather conditions and unique circumstances, including the physical demands that will be placed upon the drivers by the excessive heat and the challenge of racing at night. We will need to take all of that into account when evaluating our various strategies. From a technical point of view, our cars will be running with a new braking system at the behest of the organisers on safety grounds. That will be something new for the drivers to learn, and they will need to get to grips with it as quickly as they can.”

David Cheng: “After Shanghai, I regard Austin as my second ‘home’ event since I studied in the United States. It’s another circuit that will be completely new to me, but I’m feeling optimistic. We enjoyed a positive weekend in Mexico, with a strong rhythm in both qualifying and the race and the team did an excellent job. We have been making consistent progress of late, and now we need to take the next step. The three of us – Nelson, Ho-Pin and myself – have formed a very solid partnership and we all share the same attitude and approach. We have prepared intensively for this weekend and it’s shaping up to be a very interesting race, with a good many overtaking opportunities around the lap. We will have to carefully manage the situation as day turns into night and the temperature inevitably drops. We will also need to establish a good feeling with the new brakes.”

Gustavo Menezes: “I’m obviously looking forward to this race even more than most, since it is my home event on the calendar. That said, whilst I’ve been to the Circuit of the Americas on several occasions to see Formula 1 and WEC, I’ve never actually driven the track. From what I’ve seen, it looks incredible – fast and technical in equal measure – and I’m sure we’re going to have an absolute blast! Just like we did ahead of Mexico, we have spent a lot of time in the simulator and watching on-board camera footage in order to familiarise ourselves with the layout. I have no doubt that we will have a very competitive car at our disposal that will allow us to fight for a place on the podium. Our goal will be to consolidate or even increase our championship lead, and we have everything we need in order to do so. After Mexico, I took the opportunity to spend a few days relaxing back home in California. Stéphane [Richelmi] came to visit me and we did some training together. It was great to be able to show him round where I live.”

TIMETABLE (GMT-5)

Thursday, September 15Free Practice 1: 8:00amFree Practice 2: 2:45pm

Friday, September 16Free Practice 3: 1:00pmQualifying: 6:15pm

Saturday, September 17Race: 5:00pm


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