French automaker Alpine has now officially revealed the new LMDh prototype named Alpine A424_β (A424 Beta) which will mark the manufacturer´s return to the top class of Hypercar in the FIA World Endurance Championship next season.
Alpine launched the new car during the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Friday, the car is constructed to go under the LMDh regulations, which means it is based on an Oreca chassis with a 3.4-liter twin-turbo Mecachrome V6. The car will be fielded by Alpine´s long-standing partner Signatech, who also fielded the sole Alpine A480 grandfather LMP1 car in the Hypercar class last season.
The Signatech Alpine team is also having a two-car team in the LMP2 category this year, racing in a pair of Alpine A470-Gibson, the cars are just a simple rename of the popular Oreca Gibson 07 chassis.
With the new A424 Beta, Alpine and their parent company Renault will be looking to take their first overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 1978. The team will only be running the car in the WEC for now but they don´t rule out an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entry in the future, however, the Renault group doesn´t sell any road-going cars in North America at the moment.
“Today we unveil the Alpine A424_β, the forerunner of our Hypercar designed to challenge the best competitors starting next year, True to our values, this new prototype takes the A-arrow brand into the future; while following in the footsteps of our creations, beginning with Alpenglow and the A290_β. The Alpine A424_β is racy, elegant, and distinctive with its iconic and emblematic design. It embodies both our present and our future thanks to the involvement and investment of our designers in its development.” Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine, said.
Lamborghini is the only team left of the upcoming manufacturer to join next year to show off the car, BMW is currently racing in IMSA but will add a WEC program for next season and Isotta Franschini is set to join at the end of this year.
