Alpine says it lost a near-certain victory in Sunday’s World Endurance Championship race at Fuji because it didn’t want to “sacrifice” either of its hypercars in the final round of pitstops.
The French manufacturer appeared on course for a dominant win in the sixth round of the season, with its pair of A424 LMDh prototypes holding first and second positions heading into the final hour.
But a late-race safety car triggered by a violent crash involving the #58 McLaren LMGT3 changed the complexion of the race, with Toyota short-fuelling the #8 TR010 and opting not to fit fresh tyres to propel Ryo Hirakawa into the lead.
Alpine took a much more conservative approach, bringing both cars into the pits at the same time and bolting two fresh tyres for the final sprint to the finish.
This left the #35 Alpine driven by Charles Milesi in third place behind the #8 Toyota and the #15 BMW, while the erstwhile-leading #36 Alpine dropped to fifth behind the #009 Aston Martin.
Victor Martins then charged through the field in the #36 car to catch the rear of Hirakawa’s Toyota, but ultimately fell 0.591 seconds short of victory in what was the closest finish in WEC history.
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Jules Gounon, Victor Martins
Photo by: JEP
Alpine’s sporting director Nicolas Lapierre said it prioritised “team spirit” in the final round of pitstops, believing it could have defeated Toyota if it would have put all its weight behind a single car.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling because we put the car on the podium, we score a record number of points in the race weekend with 30 points,” said Lapierre.
“But obviously [after] having the cars in the front for most of the race, it is always disappointing not to win.
“The main key factor was under the last safety car. We didn’t want to sacrifice a car, so we boxed the two cars at the same time and therefore we lost time and we got overtaken by a few cars.
“In the end we could have won the race and finished far with the other one if we would have sacrificed it. We decided to go with the team spirit and being with the two cars at the end.
“It was my call, so I assumed it.
“In the end we finished second, which is still a very good result for the team, but of course, disappointing to not win today.”
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Jules Gounon, Victor Martins
Photo by: JEP
Alpine’s situation was complicated by the position of its pit boxes, with the #36 car that had been leading the race positioned directly behind the sister #35 entry in the pitlane.
This meant the #36 would have either lost time waiting for the sister car or while the mechanics pushed it out of the way.
“We did tyres because of our sister car that was in front and we were not losing time because of the sister car; you need to pull back and then go [out] again,” explained Martins. “We didn’t lose time to do tyres and then it was an advantage, that’s why we did it.”
The caution period – a VSC followed by a full safety car deployment – lasted nearly 30 minutes, as marshals recovered the stranded McLaren of Finn Gehrsitz.
This played into the hands of the #8 Toyota, which was carrying much less fuel than the Alpine.
“I think they did a good job,” Martins said of Toyota. “it’s fair to say that they gambled, it worked, and they anticipated it well.
“They were in a position to do so, being at the end of the pitlane, having a look at everybody in the pitlane coming, you can short fuel or just release before we come.
“They were in a good position and maybe we didn’t do enough, but it’s easy to say after the race.”
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TR010: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa
Photo by: JEP
Martins, who shared the #36 Alpine with Jules Gounon, admitted that he was disappointed by the outcome of the race, but took encouragement from the team’s second podium finish in as many races.
“We were dominant this weekend, we did a very good job,” he said. “After Austin, where we had a great car, it’s the second weekend in a row where we are always at the front.
“We got promoted to pole [after qualifying was washed out], but we would have been in the fight for pole again.
“Then in the race, like Austin again, we got a bit unlucky. In Austin, we were in the fight with the #7 Toyota, and now again we were first and second [before the final safety car], so I think the car is on rails.
“The guys are doing a super job, we are always improving, we give good feedback to the team, to try to work on our system, on the car. We were prepared for any conditions today, on the wet, on the dry. Then we missed for a bit, but sometimes racing is like this.”
While the #36 Alpine finished second, the sister entry shared by Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi wound up fourth behind the #15 BMW, which also moved up the order with a late strategic gamble.
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