24h Le Mans
Since 2001, the community of Saint Saturnin, a city of 2,300 inhabitants located northwest of Le Mans, has hosted the Classic British Welcome, rallying point for tens of thousands of Brits gathering nearly 1,000 noteworthy cars the day before the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2016, tribute will be paid to the Alpine marque.
For the first time since the creation of the event, a French marque, Alpine, has been chosen as the theme. Created in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, Alpine celebrated its 60th anniversary last year with the announcement by Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Renault-Nissan collaboration, of the renaissance of the marque. The French constructor chose the 24 Hours of Le Mans to present the Célébration, a show-car that prefigures the series model that will once again hit the road.
After having won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978, Alpine made its return to Le Mans in 2013 with the Signatech outfit in the LM P2 class. A darling of the public as of its first appearance, Oliver Webb, Nelson Panciaticci and Paul-Loup Chatin brought the A450B to the third step on the LM P2 podium in 2014 before being forced to retire during the race due to an incident the following year.
Though the Alpine's program has yet to be revealed for 2016, the marque will nonetheless be present at the 24 Hours of Le Mans thanks to the Classic British Welcome on Friday, June 17th starting at 9:00 a.m. (free admission).
Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
