Alpine, the French performance brand under Renault’s umbrella, has been racing in FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMP2 category for the last decade, but the company is finally ready to make a return to WEC’s premier category next year. Alpine’s 2024 LMDh challenger is the A424_β, which makes its official debut today ahead of this year’s 24 Hours of LeMans race.
Let’s start with the name. The firm says it “respects the tradition of Alpine’s winning Endurance cars, 24 echoes the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2024, and β designates the final phase before its launch.” The automaker also explains the exterior design of the race car features the brand’s future light signature that will be also seen on production vehicles, while its interior is inspired by road-going supercars.
In a race car, nothing is more important than the technology that’s hidden underneath the skin, though. In that department, the A424_β offers a 3.4-liter single-turbocharged V6 engine delivering 675 horsepower with a rev limiter at 9,000 rpm. It’s not a pure combustion mill as there’s a 67-hp rear-axle hybrid system common to all LMDh cars developed by Bosch, Xtrac, and Williams Advanced Engineering.
Our colleagues at Motorsport.com report the car rides on a next-generation ORECA LMP2 chassis and comes with a seven-speed transmission with steering wheel-mounted paddles and pneumatic control. The A424_β sits on 18-inch wheels with Michelin tires on all four corners, while six-piston calipers hugging ventilated carbon discs provide the stopping power.
“In keeping with our values, this new prototype projects the A-arrow brand into the future whilst following in the footsteps of our creations, starting with Alpenglow and the A290_β. It is racy, elegant, and distinctive with its symbolic and iconic design. It embodies both our present and our future, thanks to the involvement and investment of our designers in its development,” Alpine CEO, Laurent Rossi, comments.
Joining Alpine at next year’s WEC’s Hypercar class will be manufacturers such as Lamborghini and BMW. The Renault-owned company will enter the most demanding championship on the planet with two cars operated by Signatech.
