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Alpine: a brand with winning genes!

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Alpine: a brand with winning genes!

“Being there is everything” is the Olympic motto. For Alpine, this statement could be supplemented with a small but fine addition: "Being there is everything - win a little more!”Philippe Sinault, Team Principal at Signatech-Alpine, explains why the pursuit of success is anchored in the brand's DNA. What do you think of when you think of Alpine in motorsport? The A110 rear skids, as they chased up and down the snow-covered Alpine roads at the Monte Carlo Rally in the 1970s? Or the numerous victories and titles in the Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships of that time? Not to forget: the overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978.

The tricolor has always been on top

Founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, Alpine turned onto the winning road practically from the start. With low weight and pronounced agility as characteristic features, the racing cars from Dieppe were reliably at the forefront in practically all motorsport disciplines and classes in which they are used for many years. Examples include winning the very first brand world championship in rallying in 1973 and the Le Mans triumph five years later. After a break of several decades, the Signature-Alpine team has been building on the brand's long and successful motorsport tradition since the 2013 season.

Alpine: a brand with winning genes!

"The exciting project of Alpine returning to racing began for us in 2012 when the Renault Group asked us to do so as part of their measures to re-launch this traditional brand”, Recalls Philippe Sinault, Signatech-Alpine team principal. "We didn't have to think twice about endurance racing as the perfect stage for the comeback."

Back on the road to success as a creative underdog

35 years after the victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the name Alpine returned to the world's race tracks with its LMP2 prototypes as the official works team.

Alpine: a brand with winning genes!

"Our basic attitude is the same as when Alpine shaped its glorious motorsport tradition. Today, as then, we often compete against opponents who have significantly more resources. We counter it with creative ideas and great determination."

This attitude quickly paid off. After successive titles in the European Le Mans Series in 2013 and 2014, Signatech-Apine was promoted to the WEC endurance world championship for the 2015 season. At this highest level of endurance racing, the team secured the title in the LMP2016 class in 2019 and 2 and celebrated class victory at Le Mans in 2016, 2018 and 2019. For this season the bar is a little higher: "After eight successful years in LMP2, we are facing a new challenge in 2021, ”explains Sinault. “A new chapter opens for us as we are on the hunt for the holy grail: the overall WEC victory."

Alpine as a real jack of all trades

But Alpine wouldn't be Alpine if the brand didn't express its ambitions and talents on other stages of motorsport as well. In addition to switching to the newly created hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship with the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the absolute highlight of the season, Alpine is also celebrating its debut in the premier class of motorsport, Formula 1.

Alpine: a brand with winning genes!

A first success could already be celebrated in rallying at this young age: half a century after the maiden victory at the Monte Carlo Rally, a privately run Alpine A110 rally in the R-GT class won this drift classic in the French Maritime Alps . The traditional brand from Dieppe has obviously still not lost any of its winning genes?

The most important motorsport successes of Alpine:

Of the countless victories of the Dieppe brand, these are the most important internationally:

  • Rally: International brand championship 1971 / brand world champion 1973 / overall victory in the Monte Carlo Rally 1971 and 1973.
  • Endurance: Performance Index victory in Le Mans 1964 and 1966 / European brand champion 2-liter sports car 1974 / Overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1978.
  • Formula racing: Formula Renault European Champion 1972.
  • Rallycross: European Champion 1977.

Of course that had not happened yet!

tuningblog has countless other articles on the subject of car and auto tuning in stock. Do you want to see them all? Just click HERE and look around. In part, we would like to provide you with news but also off the tuning. In our category Tips, products, information & Co We have reviews of car or accessories manufacturers, new ones Tuning Wiki Terms or one or the other Leak veröffentlicht. Following an excerpt of the last articles:

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Alpine: a brand with winning genes!

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About Thomas Wachsmuth

Thomas Wachsmuth - He has been an integral part of tuningblog.eu since 2013. His passion for cars is so intense that he invests every available penny in them. While he dreams of a BMW E31 850CSI and a Hennessey 6x6 Ford F-150, he currently drives a rather inconspicuous BMW 540i (G31/LCI). His collection of books, magazines and brochures on the subject of car tuning has now reached such proportions that he himself has become a walking reference work for the tuning scene.  More about Thomas

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