When the French manufacturer first decided to enter the WEC’s top class in 2021, with the Signatech team that had represented it with great success in LMP2, it did so in little time by obtaining the Rebellion R-13 LMP1 car from its previous owner and promptly rebranding it as an Alpine A480.
It gave Alpine a relatively easy entry into the top echelon of sportscar racing, and there were wins at Sebring and Monza against stiff competition from Toyota. But running a generation-old LMP1 car was always a stop-gap measure and required a special dispensation from the rulemakers.
