ALPINE ELF ENDURANCE ON PACE DURING THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS TEST DAY

André Negrão, Memo Rojas and Olli Caldwell,along with Matthieu Vaxiviere, Julien Canal and Charles Milesi, were there tobe weighed in with all their equipment and received a warm welcome from thecrowd before looking ahead to their next task: Test Day. With two three-hoursessions, the two trios used this track time to get to grips with thenon-permanent 13.626 km 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit, renowned for its Mulsannestraight.

From 10am, Olli Caldwell and Charles Milesiclimbed into the cockpits of the #35 and #36 Alpines to launch the team'sprogramme. The Briton took the opportunity to immediately carry out the firstpart of the rookie ritual: completing ten laps during the day, which he willhave to complete with five night laps on Wednesday or Thursday. Despite a fewinterruptions, the two men and their teammates focused on the essentialelements for a successful performance: set-up, track evolution, fuelconsumption management and analysis of the different tyres compounds.

After taking the lead through MatthieuVaxiviere, the six drivers took turns gathering information during a morningsession in which the two A470s finished in the top six of an impressive fieldof 24 LMP2 cars. The work and pace picked up in the afternoon. André Negrão putthe hammer down, setting a time of 3:36.644s to go to the top of the timesheetsbefore finishing the session third in the LMP2 category. In the sister car,Matthieu Vaxiviere was fourth best with a time of 3:36.782s. At day's end, thetwo crews had completed 126 laps, totalling more than 1,700 kilometres.

With valuable lessons learnt, Alpine ElfEndurance Team now turns its attention to its tasks on Wednesday: the firstfree practice and qualifying sessions. In addition to the on-track activity,Alpine Cars will unveil the A110 R Le Mans in the Alpine Paddock Center,following an entertaining parade.

QUOTES

André Negrão

"It's a good startingpoint. The car worked well and we tried many things on what was a lovely,flowing day. We accumulated a lot of kilometres without any problems, whichenabled us to collect valuable data for the team. It was also an opportunity tosee Olli learn the track, and he's doing exceptionally well, as is Memo. Sofar, so good, and there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic for nextweek!"

Olli Caldwell

"It was a great firstday as this is my first 24 Hours of Le Mans. I really enjoyed discovering andexpriencing this amazing track. We have made some really good improvements sinceSpa thanks to our tests at Monza. The car feels much better, I'm really happy withthe progress we made and and we're heading in the right direction. Now we have alot of preactice sessions the week to find the perfect adjustments to make agood race car!"

Memo Rojas

"I'm satisfied with thefirst day of Le Mans testing. The car was competitive right away, and it'salways nice to be upfront even it is still too early to draw any conclusions.The most important thing was to achieve all our goals from a technical point ofview, and my teammates did a fantastic job in this respect. However, we willkeep working hard, as we have a long week ahead of us, often full of unforeseenevents!"

Matthieu Vaxiviere

"The first feeling isgreat, especially when you look at the timesheets. It gives the teamconfidence, although you always have to put the results of Test Day intoperspective. The important thing was to stick to our plan without the slightesthitch so that we'd have plenty of things to analyse ahead of Wednesday. Missionaccomplished, with a constructive Sunday bringing some serenity even though wemust keep our feet on the ground and work hard."

Charles Milesi

"It's good to be backat Le Mans, especially on a constructive day that gave us a good baseline towork from. We tested several ideas, and we seem to be in a good position rightnow. We won't be resting on our laurels, as the track will change considerablyover the next few days. We must continue to adopt the right mindset to confirmour progess for this long week."

Julien Canal

"It was a solid firstday, with not the least problem to report. We've made good progress over thelaps to advance our programme, and we all agree about the car's potential fordevelopment. So far, we're well-positioned and know the areas where we stillneed to make a few adjustments. So that gives some peace of mind and confidencebefore the proper week at Le Mans begins."

Philippe Sinault, AlpineElf Endurance Team Principal

"It was a constructiveand productive day, although track time was shorter than in years past. Despitethe neutralisations, we have completed an important part of our programme withmany lessons learned for the long week ahead. The aerodynamic configuration isalways particular at Le Mans, so the drivers needed this track time togradually get up to speed and ready for the challenge awaiting us. It's stilltoo early to compare ourselves with the competition, so we focused on our own cars.We have everything we need to score a good result, and we will do our utmost todo just that by carefully analysing the data we've collected to ensure we gointo the first free practice session on Wednesday in the best conditions."

CLASSIFICATIONS

Test Day – Morning

5. Alpine Elf Endurance Team n°36 3:38.534s (32 laps)

6. Alpine Elf Endurance Team n°35 3:38.559s (28 laps)

Test Day – Afternoon

3. Alpine Elf Endurance Team n°35 3:36.644s (32 laps)

4. Alpine Elf Endurance Team n°36 3:36.782s (34 laps)

Test Day – Cumulative

4. Alpine Elf Endurance Team n°35 3:36.644s (laptours)

5. Alpine Elf Endurance Team n°36 3:36.782s (34 laps)

TIMETABLE

Wednesday 7 June

2:00-5:00pm: Free practice 1

7:00-8:00pm: Qualifying

10:00pm-12:00am: Free practice 2

Thursday 8 June

3:00-6:00pm: Free practice 3

8:00-8:30pm: Hyperpole

10:00-11:00pm: Free practice 4

Saturday 10 June

12:00-12:15pm: Warm-up

4:00pm: Start of the 91st edition of the 24 Hours ofLe Mans

ABOUT ALPINE

Founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, the brand has setitself apart with its French-style sports cars. In 2018, the brand presentedthe new A110, a sports car faithful to Alpine's timeless principles ofcompactness, lightness, agility and driving pleasure. The Alpine Business Unitwas created in 2021 and thus became the brand dedicated to innovative,authentic, exclusive sportscars of the Renault Group, benefiting from the heritageand craftsmanship of its historic plant in Dieppe and the Alpine Racing andAlpine Cars teams engineering mastery.

PRESS CONTACTS

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Indiade la Fressange

Press Officer Motorsport

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