Alpine reveals preview of its Hypercar entry for 2024 World Endurance Championship

Alpine has revealed the first images of the car it will enter into next year’s World Endurance Championship.

The French manufacturer calls the A424 Beta a “precursor” to the machine it will enter into the WEC’s top category, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, in 2024. The LDMh prototype has been developed jointly by Alpine and ORECA.

The car is powered by a 3.4-litre 90-degree V6 engine with a single turbocharger, plus a 50kw hybrid system.

Alpine announced its coming two-car assault on the WEC Hypercar class in October 2021. Design work on the A424 began the following month.

The car was developed at Alpine’s Viry-Chatillon base, where the Renault engines used by its Formula 1 team are produced. It is the first prototype the facility has created since 1978.

“Viry-Châtillon is an entity bringing together many activities beyond F1,” Alpine executive director Bruno Famin explained. “At Viry, our vehicle division brings together customer racing, Formula E and other projects, including the A424 Beta and Alpenglow.

“We have built on our existing strengths while adding quantity and quality to our workforce. In addition to the dedicated team, all the Viry-Chatillon departments contributed to the A424 project whenever and wherever needed.”

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He said the team has been “fully committed” to the hypercar project since the beginning of last year. “The pace gradually quickened, and given Alpine’s ambitions to penetrate the American market the LMDh option was obvious as it requires a more limited investment in engineering than the LMHs.

“The LMH/LMDh idea is to put the cars in the same aerodynamic and engine performance windows through thoroughly well-designed regulations. With the LMDh, we have a shared spine surrounded by a chassis from one of the four approved manufacturers. Manufacturers can also design a body with the stylistic codes of their brands, hence the divergences we are already seeing with prototypes whose style is not dictated solely by aerodynamics.

“With this, Alpine is reaffirming its strong identity and its technical talents within an agreed budget, allowing us to market our LMDh in the future.”

Alpine said the car’s name was chosen by combining a three-digit number beginning with four to evoke its past winning endurance cars, and the number 24 to reference the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Pictures: Alpine A424 Beta

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