6. 9. 2024
Just a few days after the resumption of the the FIA WEC season in Austin, Alpine Endurance Team is crossing the Pacific Ocean to the Far East for the Asian leg, which includes a visit to Japan before the season finale in Bahrain.
The penultimate round of the calendar will be run at Fuji Speedway. Located some 100 km from Tokyo, this motorsport landmark is an atypical circuit, 4.563 km long and characterised by a 1.5 km straight between fast corners and extremely twisty sections. It's a track where Alpine first excelled in 1978 when Masahiro Hasemi and Kazuyoshi Hoshino's A441 won the Fuji 500 km. More recently, the A-arrow brand has finished on the podium in its category every year between 2015 and 2018, as well as third overall at the 2022 6 Hours of Fuji.
From the moment they arrive at the foot of Mount Fuji on Monday, Les Bleus will be hard at work. The team will be aiming to confirm its progress after its best qualifying and race results in Texas. Alpine Endurance Team will meticulously draw on its growing experience to master all the subtleties of a circuit requiring aerodynamic finesse as well as efficient traction out of tight corners. The engineers, mechanics and strategists will also try to mastermind the challenges of traffic, tyre degradation and weather.
Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Mick Schumacher in the #36 Alpine A424 will contest their seventh race together. Jules Gounon will replaces Paul-Loup Chatin in the sister car to join Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg. This swap, which was agreed upon prior to the season, gives the team's reserve driver the opportunity to continue his Hypercar learning process after his impromptu debuts at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps. Paul-Loup Chatin will return to the #35 car for the 8 Hours of Bahrain.
The 6 Hours of Fuji starts at 11:00 am local time (4:00 am CEST) on Sunday. To follow the event, go to www.fiawec.com.
Philippe Sinault, Team Principal Alpine Endurance Team
"Fuji is one of the most iconic races on the calendar and in motorsport, with Mount Fuji as backdrop. Every year, this race shows us how important the Alpine community is in Japan and how lucky we are to have their support. With very little time between Austin and Fuji, the logistical side of things is a real tour de force. The teams are working intensely, and ours will arrive on Monday to start servicing the cars. The aim is to continue the momentum from Austin, where we showed improvement in our level of performance, even though we still have much to learn. We've made progress in understanding the setup and the tyres, and we hope to get off to a good start in Free Practice 1. Fuji has several characteristics that we'll have to get to grips with, starting with its duality with a lengthy straight coupled with a very twisty final sector. The weather will also be a factor, as we can expect to encounter a wet track at some point during the weekend. We'll be ready for every scenario at this round, where we will welcome back Jules. His participation will give him additional experience, and he'll be able to see the progress made since his last race with us at Spa."
Timetable (CEST)
Friday 13 September
4:00-5:30: Free Practice 1
8:30-10:00: Free Practice 2
Saturday 14 September
3:20-4:20: Free Practice 3
8:00-8:12: Hypercar Qualifying
8:20-8:30: Hypercar Hyperpole
Sunday 15 September
4:00-10:00: 6 Hours of Fuji