ALPINE CONTINUES ITS PODIUM STREAK IN BAHRAIN

Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrão and Matthieu Vaxivieremade the most of free practice to get back into the swing of things whileadapting to the scorching conditions in the heart of the desert. Following thethree sessions, qualifying was entrusted to the Brazilian, whose fastest lapearned him the third-best time, less than a second from the pole position.

On Saturday morning, Matthieu Vaxiviere was chargedwith starting the 6 Hours of Bahrain. Pushing from the off, the Frenchmanchallenged the n°7 Toyota at the first corner and maintained the pressure onthe leading duo. However, his mission to find an opening was compromised by athrottle issue.

Matthieu Vaxiviere completed his opening stint inthird place. Nicolas Lapierre then took over before he handed over to AndréNegrão. Still in third place after two hours, the Brazilian and the team werecaught out by a full course yellow shortly after their pit stop. The Alpinetacticians reacted quickly by changing strategy with an early stop, beforeMatthieu Vaxiviere took over from his Brazilian teammate.

Despite the extra pit stop, Alpine Elf MatmutEndurance Team held onto third place, heading into the last 100 minutes of therace. The French driver was on the lookout for the slightest opportunity andset a solid and consistent pace throughout the final 53 laps.

The trio's efforts in the Bahraini desert secured Alpinea fifth consecutive podium finish since its return to the premier class of theFIA World Endurance Championship. Alpine Elf Matmut Endurance Team has alsosealed second place in the Teams classification. In the Drivers championship,Mathieu Vaxiviere, André Negrão and Nicolas Lapierre could still finish secondas they are now 25 points with 39 points up for grabs at the season-finale.

Les Bleus will have a chance to take theirrevenge next week in the final race of 2021: the 8 Hours of Bahrain. Thecompetitors will once again be in action at the Bahrain International Circuitfor a race that will be two hours longer, and this time will finish at night.

QUOTES

PhilippeSinault, Team Principal Alpine Elf Matmut Endurance Team

"This fifth podium is still a great resultconsidering the context. The team was faultless on track and in the garage, aswas the reliability except for that slight throttle issue that prevented usfrom getting full power at the beginning of the race. We were competing withthe Toyotas until those two mid-race turning points. First of all, we used toomuch fuel because of the heat, then the first full course yellow cost us dearlyas we had just refuelled, unlike our rivals. We also suffered at the end withtyres that behaved differently from our simulations. Our rivals were clearlystronger today, and they drove a perfect race in these extreme conditions. Weare now looking ahead to next week when we will try to do better than third. Wehave a lot of work to do after this tough race for both the drivers and thecars, but we will be extremely motivated to finish our season on a high."

NicolasLapierre

"We got off to a good start with Matthieu, butultimately we lacked some pace and range. We lost a lot of time with the first fullcourse yellow as we did a pit-stop just before. But the good news is that wewill have the opportunity to get our revenge next week!"

AndréNegrão

"These 6 Hours of Bahrain are over and that’sanother podium for us. We had a good race with a strong pace, but we still needto improve in some areas. The full course yellow didn't work in our favour, butwe can still fight for second place in the Drivers' Championship. That goal isnow a bit harder to achieve, but let's wait and see what next weekbrings!"

MatthieuVaxiviere

"We were in a pretty good position at thebeginning of the race. The opening laps were tricky, but we closed the gap tothe Toyotas until the problem with the throttle. It is something we need toanalyse to make sure it doesn't happen again. The gap then widened, and it'stoo bad that the suspense was cut short, but we'll do everything we can toagain pressure our rivals next week."

CLASSIFICATIONS

6 Hoursof Bahrain

1. Toyota Gazoo Racing n°7 – 185 laps

2. Toyota Gazoo Racing n°8 – +51.401s

3. Alpine Elf Matmut Endurance Team n°36 + 1 lap

4. Team WRT n°31 + 5 laps

5. JOTA n°28 + 5 laps

FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar

1. Toyota Gazoo Racing – 167 points

2. Alpine ElfMatmut Endurance Team – 105 points

3. Glickenhaus Racing – 37 points

PROGRAMME (UTC+3)

Thursday 4 November

17h30-19h00: Free practice 1

Friday 5 November

9h00-10h30: Free practice 2

13h20-14h20: Free practice 3

17h40-17h50: Qualifying

Saturday 6 November

14h00-22h00: 8 Hoursof Bahrain

About Alpine

Founded in 1955 by JeanRédélé, the brand has set itself apart with its French-style sports cars. In2018, the brand presents the new A110, a sports car faithful to Alpine'stimeless principles of compactness, lightness, agility and driving pleasure. In2021, the Alpine Business Unit is created. It thus becomes the brand dedicatedto innovative, authentic, exclusive sportscars of Renault Group, benefitingfrom the heritage and craftsmanship of its historic plant in Dieppe, as well asthe engineering mastery from Alpine Racing and Alpine Cars teams.