08/11/2023 News
End of the 2023 season for Peugeot TotalEnergies and Alpine ELF Endurance Team
Bahrain, November 8th 2023 - Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit played host to the final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship this weekend. A final opportunity for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies and Alpine ELF Endurance Team to showcase their skills on track. Despite being short on grip on the low-speed corners of this 5.412km-long track, where regulations prevented them from making use of the front-drive train, both Peugeot 9X8s produced consistent performances to finish eighth and ninth overall.
“This eight-hour race unfolded without any significant racing incidents,” explained Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot Sport Technical Director. “No safety car period, just two full course yellows, so very few on-track incidents, which is a bit disappointing. The race results therefore closely reflected the pace of the cars. We fought hard on several levels, not at the front unfortunately, but we were expecting that to some extent. On the other hand, over the course of an eight-hour race, we didn’t make any mistakes, which is positive and everything went well during the pit stops. The team was very efficient.”
The team will undoubtedly be even more effective next season, with the hard work planned this winter aiming to increase the car’s performance level further still. On what was its last outing in the LMP2 class, the Alpine ELF Endurance Team produced another impressive performance in qualifying, as Charles Milesi claimed second position on the grid.
However, an incident at the start, and a five-second penalty for a breach of the regulations in the pit lane, dashed its hopes of a good result in the race, the two A470s ending up in seventh and tenth places in class respectively.
“Today summed up our season in many ways,” analysed Philippe Sinault, Alpine ELF Endurance Team Principal. “It was a tough race. Bad luck at the start prevented us from building on our strong qualifying performance, an area where we have been slightly under-performing so far this season. And our long-sting simulations pointed to a different outcome to the one we experienced. Unfortunately, Matthieu had to take action to avoid clashing with another car, before then being shunted twice. That left us about thirty seconds off the pace of the leaders and we had to change the hood before the end of his stint. At the end of the day, both cars nevertheless showed good pace and were able to match the speed of the cars at the front. Taking a step back, Alpine’s adventure in LMP2 over the last ten years has been a great experience. A chapter has closed today, but we mustn't forget all the elements that have developed and given a soul and meaning to this story: the race wins and the titles, of course, but also the drivers, engineers and mechanics that have put their faith in us and helped us to write this great story. They have all played their part through their hard work and commitment. They have enabled us to look forward and have different ambitions in the top-flight category, so I would like to thank everyone that has been involved for their invaluable contribution.”