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Just five days after the first race at the BahrainInternational Circuit, the FIA WEC returned to the same track for the 2021season-finale. Thanks to the lessons learned the previous week, the team putits knowledge to good use during the three free practice sessions. MatthieuVaxiviere then confirmed the progress made by setting the third-fastest time inqualifying, with a reduced gap to the pole position compared to last Friday.
Nicolas Lapierre, who was in the car for the start onSaturday, made a perfect getaway, overtaking the two Toyotas in the openingcorners. The Frenchman dominated the first quarter of an hour before his rivalshad an easier time with the back-marker traffic on lap nine. Not about to throwin the towel, Nicolas Lapierre kept the leaders in sight, but a mechanicalissue with the diff shift forced him into the pits.
The Alpine Elf Matmut Endurance Team mechanics then carriedout a lightning-quick intervention of only seven minutes to get the A480 backon track with Matthieu Vaxiviere. The French driver found himself shotgun onthe field, nearly five laps behind the leaders, but engaged in a race againstthe clock to get back to the sharp end of the field. After clearing the GTE Amcontingent, he handed over to André Negrao, who attacked the GTE Pro and LMP2cars as night gradually set in.
Despite his efforts being slowed by an increasing number offull course yellows, the Brazilian drove a double stint, as did MatthieuVaxiviere after him. Back behind the wheel, André Negrao rejoined the top five withtwo hours and fifteen minutes to go before Nicolas Lapierre got back in the carfor the final sprint.
Coming out of the pits in seventh place, Nicolas Lapierreshowed as much flair as his teammates, putting the n°36 Alpine back into thetop three. After a final pit-stop, the Frenchman resumed his march forward tosecure third place with twenty-three minutes to go.
With six podium results in as many races, Alpine Elf MatmutEndurance Team finishes its maiden campaign in the FIA WEC premier class insecond place in the teams championship. Mathieu Vaxiviere, André Negrão andNicolas Lapierre are third in the drivers championship. Tomorrow, Les Bleuswill conduct a day of testing with Nicolas Lapierre in the A480. The 2022 FIAWorld Endurance Championship season will kick off at Sebring, USA, where thePrologue (March 12-13) will precede the 1000 Miles of Sebring (March 18).
Quotes
Philippe Sinault, Team Principal Alpine Elf Matmut EnduranceTeam: "We started the race strong with Nicolas, but the scenario took anew twist as we encountered our first and only reliability issue of the season.After losing only seven minutes in the garage, thanks to the great work of ourmechanics, we set ourselves the goal of continuing our podium streak as thirdplace was still within our reach. We kept pushing, but we also know it wouldhave been difficult to do better anyway. We all have to rethink our approach tobe more competitive in the future. Above all, I want to highlight that the teamhas taken a step forward in all areas this season, laying solid foundations forthe future. I want to thank them for their work and congratulate them on theirfirst Hypercar campaign."
Nicolas Lapierre: "Reliability had been impeccable allyear, but we had a small issue today. We would have preferred a clean sheet,but the team did another great job and rose to the challenge, which is greatfor the first season in the premier class. We can be proud that we gave it ourall, and hopefully, we can get into the fight a bit more and really bechallenging for wins next year."
André Negrão: "It was intense. After Nicolas' excellentstart, everything changed with our diff shift issue and we had to push right tothe finish to score another podium. We managed to get back to third place. Itwas a great year for the whole team. We've had our ups and downs, but we've learneda lot for the future, and I'm very happy about that."
Matthieu Vaxiviere: "This race allowed us to pressureour rivals from the start, and we would have liked it to last a little longer.We were able to show some positive things despite our mechanical problem; thespeed with which the team fixed the car was remarkable. We have gainedexperience throughout this first season in Hypercar. I'm confident we'll beready to fight for the win when we hold all the keys."
CLASSIFICATIONS
8 Hours of Bahrain
1. Toyota Gazoo Racing n°8 – 247 laps
2. Toyota Gazoo Racing n°7 – +7.351s
3. Alpine Elf Matmut Endurance Team n°36 + 6 laps
4. Team WRT n°31 + 7 laps
5. JOTA n°28 + 7 laps
FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar
1. Toyota Gazoo Racing – 206 points
2. Alpine Elf Matmut Endurance Team – 128 points
3. Glickenhaus Racing – 37 points
About Alpine
Founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, the brand has set itselfapart with its French-style sports cars. In 2018, the brand presents the newA110, a sports car faithful to Alpine's timeless principles of compactness, lightness,agility and driving pleasure. In 2021, the Alpine Business Unit is created. Itthus becomes the brand dedicated to innovative, authentic, exclusive sportscarsof Renault Group, benefiting from the heritage and craftsmanship of itshistoric plant in Dieppe, as well as the engineering mastery from Alpine Racingand Alpine Cars teams.
