Alpine rolls out WEC and Le Mans Hypercar contender

Alpine has unveiled its A480 LMP1 racer that the French manufacturer will campaign in this year's 2021 World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans in August.

You would be excused if you thought the striking machine looked familiar as Alpine's contender is actually a Rebellion R13 in disguise, a race-winning machine built by Oreca for the 2018/19 WEC season.

The Signatech-run car will compete against the Hypercar entries of Toyota and Glickenhaus, with Alpine taking advantage of the 'grandfather' exemption clause included in the WEC's new regulations that allows for former LMP1 cars to compete in the series new top class.

Powered by a 4.5-liter Gibson V8 engine, the A480 will be driven by Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere.

"We are very proud to be presenting the Alpine A480 to support our coulors in the brand new Hypercar category, the very best of endurance racing," commented Groupe Renault CEO Luca di Meo.

"Taking up this new challenge shows how ambitious we are. Alpine has been back in endurance racing since 2013 and we’ve climbed our way season after season.

"Last time we won the ‘queen category’ was in 1978. That’s quite a challenge to live up to but I’m fully confident that the new A480 will rise up to it."

Alpine’s last outright win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans came in 1978 with a Renault-Alpine A442B driven by Didier Pironi and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud.