The French marque's solo grandfathered A480-Gibson LMP1 car was already struggling to keep up the pace of the Toyota and Glickenhaus Le Mans Hypercars when Nicolas Lapierre was hit with a drive-through penalty for speeding in a slow zone in the fourth hour.
Further time was lost soon after as the car was taken into the garage to replace the electronic clutch unit, costing Alpine 13 minutes, before another 11 minutes were given up in the fifth hour due to a fault with the ignition coil.
