Alpine Handed Power Reduction After Hyperpole

The Alpine A480 Gibson has received a 10 kW power reduction after Hyperpole qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which gets underway tomorrow afternoon.

An updated Balance of Performance bulletin shows the ORECA-built grandfathered LMP1 car as having a maximum output of 417 kW (around 559 hp) after contesting Hyperpole with 10 kW (around 13 hp) more.

Nicolas Lapierre qualified third for the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a time of 3:24.850, putting Alpine Elf Team four-tenths off pole position behind a front-row lockout for Toyota Gazoo Racing.

The power reduction is accompanied by a 32-megajoule reduction in the Alpine’s energy allowance per stint.

It is the fourth BoP change for the Alpine in three FIA World Endurance Championship rounds this season, with the third race at Le Mans due to take place this weekend.

The French squad received a 20 kW power reduction after the season-opening 1000 Miles of Sebring, which it won with Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Andre Negrao.

That adjusted it to 410 kW for round two at Spa, but the Alpine regained half of that reduction in time for last weekend’s Le Mans test day.

Following the eight-hour pre-event test, then two Free Practice sessions and qualifying on Wednesday, the Alpine was handed a further 7 kW increase, up to 427 kW, that has effectively been ruled out by Friday’s latest measures.

The updated Hypercar BoP table comes alongside a slight turbo boost pressure increase for the Ferrari 488 GTE Evos competing in the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am classes.