Encouraging performance for Alpine Endurance Team in the fervour of Spa

Spa-Francorchamps, round three of the season, was also the final run-through for the FIA WEC competitors ahead of this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

From Thursday, Alpine Endurance Team began what was productive testing to fine-tune its setup on the forbidding Belgian circuit. Over the three sessions, the two crews completed 183 laps, or almost 1,300 kilometres. Subsequently, the Alpine A424 reached a new milestone by securing a place in Hyperpole for the first time. Fifth in the opening qualifying session, Charles Milesi eventually finished eighth after a broken drain pump curtailed his efforts.

The #35 and #36 A424s lined up seventh and eleventh on the grid for the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with Charles Milesi and Nicolas Lapierre for the start. The former made his way through on the inside and gained a position at the exit of La Source, while his teammate quickly made two overtakes to move up to tenth place.

Despite a puncture for the #36 car in the corner before its first pit stop, which had no impact thanks to the team's quick response, the A-arrow brand Hypercars remained firmly in contention for points finish. The lengthy safety car period caused by the accident between the #38 Porsche and the #46 BMW meant that Charles Milesi and Nicolas Lapierre each had to put in a triple stint before Paul-Loup Chatin and Mick Schumacher took over after more than three hours of action. The Frenchman and German also worked hard to avoid the traps and increasing incidents in the field.

The race was red-flagged just a few minutes after Matthieu Vaxiviere replaced Mick Schumacher following the accident between the #2 Cadillac and #31 BMW. As the race leader had not yet stopped, the interruption put the #36 Alpine one lap down, costing it nearly two minutes to its rivals.

The race resumed after a nearly two-hour protracted break. Like the majority of the Hypercars, the #35 Alpine A424 dove into the pit lane to refuel and rejoined the race in seventh place.

Jules Gounon and Mick Schumacher got back in their respective Alpine A424s for the final stint. The Frenchman confirmed his quick adaptation to the Hypercar by taking ninth place from the #93 Peugeot. Meanwhile, Mick Schumacher put in a faultless display, enabling the #36 Alpine to cross the line in 12th place, less than 30 seconds outside the top ten.

With this result, achieved in front of a FIA WEC (excluding Le Mans) record attendance of 88,180 spectators, Alpine regains fourth place in the World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship ahead of the next round, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where double points will be on offer.

CLASIFICATIONS

TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

1. Hertz Team JOTA #12

2. Porsche Penske Motorsport #6

3. Ferrari AF Corse #50

9. Alpine Elf Endurance Team #35

12. Alpine Elf Endurance Team #36

FIA Hypercar World Endurance Drivers' Championship

1. Estre / Lotterer / Vanthoor – 74 points

2. Illott / Stevens – 52 points

3. Conway / de Vries / Kobayashi – 46 points

11. Chatin / Milesi – 11 points

13. Habsburg – 9 points

18. Lapierre / Schumacher / Vaxiviere / Gounon – 0 point

FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship

1. Porsche – 83 points

2. Toyota – 60 points

3. Ferrari – 49 points

4. Alpine – 23 points

5. BMW – 21 points