Famin Steps Down From Alpine Hypercar Duties

Alpine has announced that its vice-president of motorsport Bruno Famin has stepped down from his duties ahead of the new FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Famin was appointed executive director of Alpine Racing in 2022, overseeing the Renault-owned marque’s Hypercar program as well as its Formula 1 project and sister brand Dacia’s rally raid project, before taking on the VP of motorsport brief in 2023.

On Thursday evening, however, Alpine revealed that Famin is no longer a part of its WEC program, with Alpine Tech vice-president Axel Plasse taking over his duties.

It follows the news that Alpine will withdraw from the WEC at the end of 2026.

Plasse joined Alpine in his current role last September, effectively replacing Famin as the head of Alpine’s Viry-Chatillon site, now known as Alpine Tech, although the latter continued in his role as VP of motorsport, reporting to Plasse.

“We would first like to thank Bruno Famin for the work he has done and for the commitment he brought to the Alpine endurance program,” said Plasse.

“He played a key role in establishing the project and supported the team from its early development phases, which have resulted in three strong podium finishes as well as a notable victory in Fuji.

“I have been already supervising the program as VP Alpine Tech and now I will also take on Bruno’s responsibilities, working more closely supporting the team alongside [team principal] Philippe Sinault.”

Alpine’s management shakeup follows its most recent test with its 2026-spec A424 at Aragon on Feb. 25-26, where it had both of its cars and all six of its drivers in action, including new signings Antonio Felix da Costa and Victor Martins.

The French manufacturer set for further running at Spa-Francorchamps on April 7-8 before the season begins with the 6 Hours of Imola on April 17-19.

Sinault expressed his satisfaction with the test as the French manufacturer gears up for what will be its third and final WEC season with the A424.

“Our test at MotorLand Aragon was an important step in our preparation, building on the work completed at Le Castellet and Portimao,” said Sinault.

“Running the Alpine A424 in its 2026 configuration over a 24-hour endurance format allowed us to complete an intensive program with both crews together for the first time.

“We focused particularly on aerodynamics and tire understanding, benefiting from representative top speeds and varied track conditions.

“The outcome is positive, with over 3,000 kilometres completed and all six drivers contributing to valuable correlation work with our simulations.

“While the postponement of the Qatar round is unfortunate, it gave us additional time to prepare for the season start.

“We remain fully mobilized, with further simulator work and another test planned at Spa-Francorchamps early April as we continue to refine our package.”