THE ALPINE A470 AND ITS TWO CREWS UNVEILED FOR THE 2023 FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

Alpine's contemporary endurance programme waslaunched in 2013 and has enjoyed several successes with two European crowns,two world titles and three category wins at Le Mans. The A-arrowed brand hasalso excelled over the past two years with wins at Sebring and Monza in the FIAWEC, an outright podium in the twice-around-the-clock French classic and a runner-upspot in the premier class.

A season of transition

This season promises to be key for the teambefore it returns to the premier category of the World Endurance Championshipin 2024. The year will be paced by the development of the new Alpine Hypercarprototype. Complying with the LMDh regulations, it will compete against theprestigious constructors who have taken up the challenge in a more competitivethan ever elite field.

With competition in its DNA, Alpine will stillbe racing with the Signatech team under the Alpine Elf Endurance Team banner.For this transitional year, however, the team will be competing in the LMP2category, where it has achieved some of its finest racing achievements over thepast decade.

This change implies new challenges due to thedifferent regulations. After contributing to the expansion of the brand's listof victories between 2017 and 2020, the Alpine A470 came out of a"hibernation" of more than 800 days during pre-season testing lastweek in Portimão. The team also had to meticulously consider its new crews,with LMP2 requiring at least one Silver driver in each car.

An all-French trio in then°36

Matthieu Vaxiviere has been with Alpine sinceits debut in the premier category and will once again have the opportunity toshowcase the full extent of his talent in the n°36 A470. The Frenchman has twoLMP2 podiums at Le Mans to his name and will reunite with one of his formerteammates, Julien Canal.

Hailing from Le Mans, Julien Canal won theinternational title in 2015 and 2017 and will be a welcome addition to the teamafter establishing himself as one of the fastest and most reliable Silvers onthe grid, with three LMP2 podiums and three GT wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.His perfect knowledge of the car and his relationship with Matthieu Vaxiviere,with whom he scored a podium finish in the LMP2 category in Daytona a fortnightago, promise a particularly close-knit crew.

The line-up will be completed by one of the mostpromising drivers in the discipline with Charles Milesi. After starting in single-seater,he quickly confirmed all his potential by winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans inthe LMP2 category and the world title in his first full campaign in enduranceracing in 2021. Charles Milesi, who has transferred from another team Signatechoperated in LMP2 last year, will be keen to win back the crown with Les Bleus.

Alpine n°35, aninternational flavour

André Negrão has been a staunch member of theSignatech team, with whom he will start his sixth consecutive season, and he willalso continue his adventure with Alpine to return to a category in which he wonthe world title in 2019 and two successes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018and 2019.

The Brazilian will share the steering wheel withMemo Rojas, an extremely experienced driver in LMP2 with seven participationsin the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although this will be his first campaign in FIAWEC, the Mexican driver will contribute his valuable knowledge to the team ashe has conquered numerous motorsport landmarks: Grand-Am, 24 Hours of Daytona,12 Hours of Sebring and two European Le Mans Series titles.

A young hopeful from the Alpine Academy, OlliCaldwell will join these two skilled team-mates. A winner in nearly all the levelshe competed in single-seater racing, the Briton impressed the team during therookie tests last November with his potential and philosophy, perfectly in syncwith the values of Alpine, Signatech and the world of endurance racing. At just20 years of age, Olli Caldwell now has the opportunity to prove himself in aprototype with two highly respected teammates.

Ambitious goals on allfronts

Working with the talented operations team led bySignatech, both crews will aim to win the LMP2 Endurance Trophy by giving theirall at all seven championship rounds. The Alpine A470s will kick off theircampaign at Sebring (USA) in the FIA WEC Prologue (11-12 March) before theopening race of the season at the same track on 17 March.

Alpine Elf Endurance Team spearhead, NicolasLapierre will focus at the same time on the development of the Alpine LMDhprototype, designed in collaboration with Oreca and the Viry-Châtillon-basedAlpine Racing team.

QUOTES

Matthieu Vaxiviere

"Alpine is like my second family, so I amdelighted to continue our adventure. We know that this is a transitional yearwith a return to a category we know well despite all the changes that happened inrecent years. It will be a big challenge, but we will do everything we can towin while preparing for the future. I'm looking forward to working withCharles, an extremely fast talent I’ve seen developing with the sister car lastyear. I'm also excited to be back with Julien, one of the best Silver driversin the field with his wealth of LMP2 experience. I'm looking forward to thisseason with confidence, as I am sure our trio will have excellent chemistry andthe ambition required to win races, Le Mans and the title."

Julien Canal

"I keenly look forward to the 2023 seasonwith the Alpine Elf Endurance Team. I have raced against this team for manyyears, and to join them is a great honour. I already knew Philippe Sinault andhad the opportunity to meet the whole technical structure. I was pleasantly surprisedby all the team member's professionalism, team spirit and cohesion. It is alsomy return to FIA WEC since my 2017 title. I know the car, Matthieu is a closefriend, and I got on very well with Charles straight away. This year will notbe easy. We will be up against teams that have already won the WEC and ELMStitles, but we are determined to fight for as many races wins as possible andthe title."

Charles Milesi

"I'm really happy to continue my journey withSignatech and to be part of the Alpine family this year. I could hardly havehoped for anything better than to become the driver of a French manufacturer anda French team at just 21 years of age. It's a unique opportunity, and I'mthrilled about it, especially as the team is doing everything to ensure weperform well with the two cars entered. In my first year in blue, I think wecan get some excellent results with Matthieu and Julien and I can't wait forthe season to start the season and see what we can achieve together."

André Negrão

"After two strong years in the Hypercarcategory, I'm delighted to be back in LMP2 to start my sixth season withAlpine. I want to thank Alpine, Signatech and Philippe Sinault for theirconfidence. The battle is going to be tough. We will be up against so manycompetitive cars and great teams in LMP2 this year. However, I believe we have agood opportunity to show everyone that Alpine is back to challenge for thetitle. With my two new teammates, we are ready to give it our all this season,and I am already looking forward to the 1000 Miles of Sebring."

Memo Rojas

"I am thrilled to join the Alpine ElfEndurance Team for my first season in the World Endurance Championship. I've hadthe fortune to be successful in ELMS, but my main goal is ultimately to win LeMans. Since coming to Europe after four IMSA titles, my objective has been towin the triple crown of endurance racing: Sebring, Daytona and Le Mans, theultimate race and the only one I am missing. Joining Alpine puts me in one ofthe top teams, and I will fight alongside them to try and achieve this. I amextremely grateful to have such talented teammates, with André, one of the topendurance drivers, and Olli, one of the most promising young prospects. I amsure we will form a strong team with André's experience and Olli's youth, butalso with Matthieu, Julien and Charles in the n°36. It creates a great workingenvironment with a healthy emulation to push ourselves to the maximum. I ameager to start the season, and I would like to thank Philippe Sinault for his confidence.I will do everything to reach our goals!"

Olli Caldwell

"I am really excited to be joining Alpine ElfEndurance Team for the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship. This is a bigchange of direction for my career, but I'm looking forward to taking on a newchallenge, alongside the familiarity of being part of the Alpine programme andcontinuing to develop my relationship with the global Alpine brand. I can’twait to get out on track for the first race in Sebring, plus racing on newtracks such as Fuji and Le Mans is going to be a real highlight for me. I’dlike to thank everyone at Alpine for this opportunity, I’m sure together withmy new teammates we can push to achieve some great results."

Philippe Sinault, Alpine Elf Endurance Team Principal

"We are racers, and it was unthinkable forAlpine not to be part of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary celebrations. Weabsolutely wanted to be a part of it as competition runs in our blood and DNA,and it also allows us to get ourselves in working order with most of thetechnical staff who will take up the challenge that awaits us in 2024. Beforestarting the development of our future LMDh prototype, our challenge thiswinter was to fully apprehend this season and the challenges we will face inLMP2. We had to put together two driver line-ups, both homogeneous andcoherent, whilst considering the specific LMP2 rules, notably with a Silverdriver in each car. We are proud of our trios mixing experienced drivers withgreat potentials. Everyone knows the qualities and skills of Matthieu, Andréand Charles, while Julien's experience speaks for itself as does Memo's trackrecord. We are also fully committed to leading Olli to a successful transitionto Endurance, as we have done with André and many others in the past. We arealso pleased to welcome Reshad De Gerus to the team as a reserve driver for the2023 season. He is a talented driver, whose performance in ELMS will be closelyfollowed this year. Ultimately, LMP2 is a category that has evolved tremendouslyin our two-year absence with a complete redefinition of the technicalregulation framework on aerodynamics, engines and tyres. There is a superbfield with an incredible level of competition awaiting us, but we are lookingforward to the challenge and can't wait to get to Sebring!"

2023 Calendar

11-12 March: Prologue – Sebring (United States)

17 March: 1000 Miles of Sebring (United States)

16 April: 6 Hours of Portimão (Portugal)

29 April: 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium)

10-11 June: 24 Hours of Le Mans (France)

9 July: 6 Hours of Monza (Italy)

10 September: 6 Hours of Fuji (Japon)

4 November: 8 Hours of Bahrain (Bahrain)