24h Le Mans
As expected, Alpine - two representatives of which will be at the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LM P2 class - held a press conference to unveil its future road car with features favouring the showcar, Alpine Vision.
After the Célébration, the showcar that completed a few laps as a prelude to the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans in celebration of the marque's 60th anniversary, Renault, parent company of Alpine, presented the Vision, prefiguring the rebirth of the French marque on roadways in 2017.
Equipped with a 4-cylinder turbo engine prepared by Renault Sport - which will support future Alpine clients - internally-managed by Renault thanks to a small team of experts and enthusiasts, the replacement of the legendary Berlinette A110 will bear a striking resemblance to the Vision introduced today.
"Motorsports and sports cars are deeply rooted in the DNA of Groupe Renault," Groupe Renault Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn has said. "Earlier this month we announced our return to Formula One with a Renault team, and today we are announcing Alpine. This is an exciting next step in our strategy to leverage talent and technology between road and track, and we look forward to reaching new customers in the sport premium cars segment."
The technological transfers from the track to the road are of major interest to constructors, even though the lines will be quite different from the Alpine A460, two models of which will be entered in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Signatech Alpine and Baxi DC Racing Alpine teams in the LM P2 class. The marque hopes to meet with success once again, nearly 40 years after its win at Le Mans in 1978, but this time it is looking for a class victory after the podium finish claimed in 2014.
Cécile Bonardel / ACO (quotation from Renault press release) - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
PHOTO: The Alpine Vision resembles its illustrious ancestor, the Berlinette A110.
