Alpine A424 Completes Two-Day Aragon Test

The Alpine A424 has completed a multi-day test at Motorland Aragon in Spain as the French marque ramps up development ahead of the car’s FIA World Endurance Championship debut in 2024.

Drivers Nico Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere took turns behind the wheel of the Oreca-chassised LMDh car at the test, which followed on from a first significant outing at Circuit Paul Ricard in August.

According to Alpine, the car covered 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) across two days.

Half of that mileage was completed on the first day with a pair of 36-lap runs from Lapierre, which were used to gain greater understanding of Michelin’s 2024 WEC tire compounds and their “thermal behavior under the bonnet.”

Additionally, short runs were carried out to adjust aerodynamic balance, weight distribution and hybrid system deployment.

Running at Aragon was preceded by a shorter test outing at the Lurcy-Levis circuit near Magny-Cours to finetune brake systems and differential systems.

“The tests went well,” said Signatech team principal Philippe Sinault.

“The positives from the tests at Circuit Paul Ricard were confirmed at Motorland and the car continued to display a healthy behavior.

“It was a pivotal stage in the program because, after completing the shakedown tasks, we started to get all the car’s elements to work together: the hybrid system, engine and chassis.

“Matthieu and Nico put in a series of stints over more than 1,500 km, sometimes even double stints, with no reliability issues, so it was quite satisfying and constructive.

“During this stage, we could really begin our operating role, with a particular emphasis on understanding the car and getting the right setups.

“The smooth running of the team was palpable on the human side, which genuinely encouraged discussions ahead of the big challenge ahead. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re on the right track.”

The next test outing for the A424 will take place at Jerez on October 17-19, with the first endurance test at Aragon scheduled for mid-November.