ALPINE ELF ENDURANCE TEAM DETERMINED TO BOUNCE BACK IN PORTUGAL

While this is only the second time the FIA WorldEndurance Championship has visited Portugal, Alpine Elf Endurance Team is nostranger to the country, having sealed its second title on the European stage therein 2014. Since then, Estoril has given way to Portimão and the Autódromo doAlgarve, built in 2008. Considered one of the most technical of Europe's moderncircuits, the track features many high-speed corners and steep climbs thatprovide plenty of excitement.

For Portimão's first appearance in the FIA WEC calendarin 2021, Les Bleus wrote new pages in Alpine's rich history, scoring itsmaiden outright pole position in the Hypercar category. In addition to thishistoric feat, the driver line-up of Matthieu Vaxiviere, Nicolas Lapierre andAndré Negrão finished third whilst setting the fastest lap in the race.

On the strength of this experience, the Frenchteam is preparing to return to the challenges of the Algarve. The squad’s sixdrivers will be particularly attentive to turn one, where they will have to beextra vigilant to avoid an incident. At the end of the almostone-kilometre-long start/finish straight, it is preceded by a downhill brakingzone before a fast sequence leading to a slower section. On the rest of thecircuit, the drivers must be at the top of their game on the blind crests requiringconstant commitment and pace. If not, they will lose precious time.

The duration of the race is another notabledistinction: six hours, compared to eight hours for the previous edition in2021. Far from being insignificant, this difference limits the strategic scopeto get the maximum 25 points for the win, although tyre degradation could be afactor depending on weather conditions.

Alpine Elf Endurance Team is approaching the racewith a sense of humility, but also with a genuine desire to experience a cleanweekend and an insatiable desire to return to the podium in LMP2 thanks to the performancelevel that allowed them to work their way up the field at Sebring. In additionto their experience of the track and the knowledge gained from the two days ofpre-season testing at the circuit, the Signatech engineers and mechanics willalso rely on the invaluable contribution of their drivers, all of whom havepast experience at Portimão, including Olli Caldwell who is about to race forthe first time there.

Starting with free practice on Friday, AndréNegrão, Memo Rojas and Olli Caldwell in the n°35 car and Charles Milesi, JulienCanal and Matthieu Vaxiviere in the n°36 car will fine-tune the set-up of theirAlpine A470s with the team until qualifying on Saturday. Thirty-seven cars,including 12 LMP2s, will start the 6 Hours of Portimão on Sunday at 12:00pmlocal time.

Philippe Sinault, AlpineElf Endurance Team Principal

"We look forward toputting the frustration of Sebring behind us and confirming the excellent racepace we saw there. We have learnt all we can from the first round, where we experiencedthe ever-increasing competitiveness of the LMP2 category. Portimão was the onlycircuit we could test at before relaunching our LMP2 programme. Even though,like many tracks on the calendar, Portimão is atypical with many elevationchanges, we are returning to a more classic and traditional circuit than Sebring.It is also why we felt the need to go there this winter. We will have to lookfor strategic window opportunities, as Portimão is known for being hard on thetyres, especially the left front. That will provide different options in a areawe can control well by doing a perfect job. We look forward to it and we aregoing there to achieve a result more in line with our potential, namely apodium."

TIMETABLE

Friday 14 April

10:30am-12:00pm: Free practice 1

3:30-5:00pm: Free practice 2

Saturday 15 April

11:15 am-12:15pm: Free practice 3

3:55-4:15pm: LMP2 Qualifying

Sunday16 April

12:00-6:00pm: 6 Hours of Portimão

ABOUT ALPINE

Founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, the brand has set itself apart with itsFrench-style sports cars. In 2018, the brand presented the new A110, a sportscar faithful to Alpine's timeless principles of compactness, lightness, agilityand driving pleasure. The Alpine Business Unit was created in 2021 and thusbecame the brand dedicated to innovative, authentic, exclusive sportscars ofthe Renault Group, benefiting from the heritage and craftsmanship of itshistoric plant in Dieppe and the Alpine Racing and Alpine Cars teamsengineering mastery.