SIGNATECH ALPINE (FRA)

Team principal: Philippe Sinault
Team manager: Lionel Chevalier
Base: Bourges (FRA)
ww.signature-team.com)

2015 FIA WEC results :
Silverstone 6 Hours: Rtd .Capillaire/Chatin/Panciatici (FRA/FRA/FRA) no. 36 Alpine-Nissan.
Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours: 13th. Capillaire/Chatin/Panciatici (FRA/FRA/FRA) no. 36 Alpine-Nissan (5th LM P2).

     In 2013, French spectators were delighted to see the Alpine name back on the Le Mans 24-Hours entry list. Fifty years after Alpine’s debut in the race, 35 years after Pironi-Jaussaud’s outright victory in the Alpine-Renault A442 B, the blue make returned to the Sarthe and won the European Le Mans Series in 2013 and 2014. It was obvious that the iconic brand of the Renault-Nissan alliance could not afford to miss out on the endurance event that receives the biggest media coverage of the year.

     Le Mans and Alpine go back a long way. Their story began in 1963 when Jean Rédélé, the founder of the company in the 50s, decided to take up the challenge of the Le Mans 24 Hours after a lot of success in rallies. He entered three Alpine M63s, one of which caught fire on Les Hunaudières killing its unfortunate driver Bino Heins from Brazil. The following year there were three M63s and an M64 and the latter won its category (1001-1150 cc) as well as the Thermal Efficiency Index.

     In 1965, the race was a setback for the M65, M64, M63Bs and an A110 with prototype bodywork called the ‘cricket!’ Six cars were again at the start of the 1966 event and four saw the flag. The new A210s won the 1150-1300 cc class (9th overall) and filled the first three places in the Thermal Efficiency Index. For 1967, known as the Race of the Century, Alpine entered a veritable armada of eight works cars, a record unbeaten to this day for a post-war works team. The Alpine A210s finished in ninth, tenth, twelfth and thirteenth places against opposition powered by 7-litre engines. They won the 1151-1300 cc and 1301-1500 cc classes. The following year the result was almost identical with 11 cars at the start, which saw the flag in eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and fourteenth places! That year, though, Alpine was battling with the big boys by entering 3-litre V8 Renault Gordini-engined cars (A220). The class wins (1001-1150 cc and 1150-1600 cc) plus the Index of Performance and the Thermal Efficiency Index made up for the disappointing performance of the 3-litre machines. Two A110 coupes failed to finish. In 1969, there were again eight Alpines at the start but only one saw the flag winning the 1001-1150 cc class and the Index of Performance. All the 3-litre cars again fell by the wayside. In 1970, the change in the regulations for the small cubic capacity cars and the lack of competitiveness of the 3-litre Gordini engines kept Alpine away from the circuits.

 

     

     In 1975, Renault, which had taken over Alpine, entered a Renault-Alpine A441 that retired. It was the same story the following year with the turbocharged A442. In 1977, four A442s including three works cars competed in the 24 Hours but without success, although the same engine powered a Mirage to second place overall. A privateer A310 with a 2.6-litre 6-cylinder engine lasted until the seventeenth hour. It all came good for Renault Alpine in 1978 with victory and fourth place. In 1994 an Alpine A601 started the race for the fortieth anniversary of the make. It was an all-Sarthe effort, which resulted in a thirteenth-place finish. In 2002, Jean Rédélé received the Spirit of Le Mans from Gérard Larrousse for his contribution to the Le Mans 24 Hours.

     Alpine made its Le Mans return in the LM P2 category with Philippe Sinault’s team. Sinault, a former F3 driver, comes from the world of communications. He set up his team in 1993 in a garage on the Paul Ricard circuit before settling in Bourges. Using Volkswagen engines, Signature quickly became one of the front-runners in the F3 Euro Series. After racing in the World Series by Renault, Sinault decided to change to endurance racing running a Courage Oreca-Judd.

2009 was a learning year in the Le Mans Series with fourth place in Barcelona as the team’s best result followed by eleventh at Spa and Le Mans, fifth at the Nürburgring and seventh at Silverstone. Signature Plus then ran a Lola-Aston Martin in the LMS in 2010, and Vanina Ickx joined up with Ragues-Mailleux. Although their Le Mans 24 Hours ended in an accident, the trio had a good run in the Le Mans Series finishing second in the LM P1 category. As the Aston Martin partnership was not renewed Signature decided to enter an LM P2 prototype in the ILMC, and reached an agreement with Nissan to supply engines as the Japanese manufacturer was very keen on being officially represented in this international championship. Backed up by this partnership Signature, renamed Signatech, tackled the 2011 endurance championship with an Oreca 03 chassis. One car driven by Franck Mailleux and Lucas Ordonez was entered in all the ILMC rounds in the LM P2 category backed up by Soheil Ayari in the Sebring 12 Hours, the Spa 1000 km, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Imola 6 Hours after which he was replaced by Jean-Karl Vernay. It was a great season for the French squad, which won the ILMC LM P2 title with the help of their victory in Zhuhai. At Le Mans, Signatech started as favourite but was beaten by the no. 41 Zytek: it finished in ninth place overall and second in LM P2.

     In 2012, the team continued to expand and entered two Oreca 03-Nissans for the year in the FIA WEC including the Le Mans 24 Hours. The driver line-ups were Mailleux-Lombard-Tresson (from the Nissan GT Academy like Ordonez) in the lead car, and Ragues, Panciatici and Roman Rusinov from Russia in the second Oreca-Nissan, which made its debut at Spa in the second round of the WEC. The championship got off to a difficult start for Philippe Sinault’s squad. Mailleux-Lombard-Tresson retired at Sebring (after a collision) and at Spa they could do no better than 33rd (after an off by Tresson), while Ragues-Panciatici-Rusinov saw the flag in 30th spot in Belgium. Le Mans was another disappointing race for the French team as no. 26 finished fourth in the LM P2 category and no. 23 saw the flag in ninth place. Signatech failed to retain the world title won in the ILMC.

     In 2013 Alpine made its Le Mans comeback with the new Signatech Alpine team. The car called the Alpine A450 used a chassis based on the Oreca 03 powered by a Nissan engine and shod with Michelin tyres. It was entrusted to Philippe Sinault’s squad. Two Alpine A450s were present at the test day where they put on encouraging performances although only one ran in the race driven by Panciatici-Ragues-Gommendy. An off compromised its chances despite which the French trio brought it home in 15th place overall and 9th in LM P2.

In the ELMS Signatech’s campaign also got off to a difficult start, but the team put its head down and finished the season on a high note winning the title in the last race on the Paul Ricard circuit after a hard-fought battle with Thiriet by TDS Racing.

     In 2014 Signatech Alpine defended its ELMS title and returned to Le Mans with an A450-Nissan, in which team regular Nelson Panciatici was backed up by Paul-Loup Chatin, winner of the 2013 LM PC category in the ELMS, and British hotshoe Oliver Webb. At Silverstone the car was on Michelins and at Imola Sinault swapped to Dunlop tyres with success as the no. 36 Alpine A450 finished third. At Le Mans in the highly-competitive LM P2 category the Alpine was one of the potential victory contenders. Finally, it saw the flag in 7th place overall and third in the baby prototype category. At the end of the season Signatech racked up its second ELMS title.

     In 2015, Sinault, who no longer had anything to prove in the ELMS, has moved up to the FIA World Endurance Championship with the same car and an all-French driver line-up, Panciatici-Chatin-Capillaire. The season got off to a bad start at Silverstone when a badly-secured left-hand rear wheel parted company with the car sending the blue Alpine into the guardrail in Copse, the team’s first retirement in three years. Things didn’t improve very much at Spa as the car was hit with tyre and setup problems. It saw the flag in 13th place overall and fifth in LM P2. At Le Mans the team and drivers will be determined to get their championship challenge back on the rails.

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